Battleground Colonies
by atlantiaCAG
Summary: The continuing story of a group of survivors from the 12 Colonies of Kobol. Fighting for survival against both Humans and Cylons.  Please feel free to review
1. The Fall

Captain Mark "Archangel" Hunter stood alone in the 10 bunk senior officer's quarters. The 6ft tall pilot stood packing his bag in his flight uniform. His shorn short hair and youthful features at first made people think he was not old enough to be CAG of the Battlestar Atlantia's Viper squadron the "Alphas". At 28 years of age he had a reputation that preceded him in the fleet. His talent for piloting vipers was spotted while he was still at Flight School. He had been hand picked by Admiral Negala to join the Atlantia's flight group.

Lieutenant Mal "Whirlwind" Thomas walked into the quarters and stood grinning behind his friend. He was the XO of the Alphas and had been looking forward to taking over while Archangel was on shore leave.

"Finally I was beginning to think that you weren't going to go!" Mal said smiling.

Archangel turned around and smiled at his friend.

"Well if the old man hadn't insisted I take it, I wouldn't be going." Archangel replied.

"Come on man if anyone deserves a break it's you. You haven't had a day off in nearly three years. You proved your point man and you got the job so please for me go and enjoy life a bit. The Atlantia will still be here in two months. Anyway gives me some time to show the old man what he would have had if he had chosen me for CAG." Mal said flashing one of his stupid grins.

Archangel picked up his bag and threw it over his shoulder and turned to face his friend.

"Whirlwind that's why the old man chose me, he already knew."

Archangel punched his friend in the arm as he walked past him towards the doors.

"Have a good break." Mal said.

"Thanks man, take care of the squadron."

Admiral Negala sat in his chair at his large oak desk. The wall behind where he sat was covered in pictures from down the years of him with his family and fellow officers. Archangel sat in the chair opposite the desk talking to his old friend.

"I take it you're heading home?" The Admiral said.

"Yeah back to Sagittaron. I have a place up in the mountains away from everything. I'm going to head back there for a month before I go see my family back on Caprica." Archangel relied.

"It'll do you good, you've hardly seen them in two years." Negala said.

"I saw them a few of months ago."

"Yeah for a day, when you made captain." Negala replied.

"I'm going to stay with my folks. I just need to go home first. They may live on Caprica now but I never really have. I know Sagittaron may not be the prettiest colony but its still home. They have the best mountains anyway."

"Well just relax and enjoy yourself. The Alphas and Shadows will be here when you get back."

Archangel stands up and holds his hand out to his friend. Negala shakes it before saluting his CAG who saluted first.

"See you soon." Archangel said.

The Atlantia's flight deck was alive with activity as always. The deck crew working on the Vipers and Raptors and pilots getting ready to launch and coming back in after successful runs. Archangel walked the line of Vipers till he reached his. The Deck Chief, Miles Evans had just finished fuelling his viper.

"Ships fuelled and ready to go captain." Miles said.

"Thanks Chief. Watch the birds while I'm away." Archangel replied.

"Will do sir."

Moment's later Archangel's viper was being loaded into a tube. He performed the usual flight checks before being launched into space. Archangel smiled. This was the best feeling in the world. He loved the openness of space. He turned his viper in the direction of Sagittaron.

"Atlantia, Archangel. See you soon guys."

Petty Officer Sarah Wills voice came back over his intercom.

"Archangel, Atlantia. Have a nice vacation safe journey." She replied over the COM.

"Thanks Sarah, see you soon." Archangel replied.

2 hours after launch Archangel flew towards the upper atmosphere. Archangel opened a channel to Sagittaron Flight Control.

"Sagittaron Flight Control this is Atlantia CAG Captain Mark Hunter requesting permission to enter Sagittaron atmosphere and land at Viper base at Washington."

Archangel waited for a reply.

"Captain Hunter you are cleared to enter Orbit and land at Washington. Enjoy your stay Archangel." The air traffic controller replied.

As he began to enter the atmosphere he thought about how come that Air Traffic Controller knew his call sign when they had most likely never met. He remembered what the Admiral had told him down the years that he had a reputation that was known throughout the fleet. A fact that his closest friends had always ribbed him for. Soon after he could see Sagittaron through the clouds. Shortly after he could see all the other air traffic below him. He had been born on Sagittaron. While the colony had had more than it's fair share of problems from itself and from the other colonies that at one stage exploited the colony it was a beautiful place that could be forgiven it's past. Mark had moved away with his family when he was 16 years old. He had always been a keen pilot his entire life and when he turned 18 he enlisted in flight school to be a fighter pilot. After graduating and joining the Atlantia's flight team he decided to buy a house in the mountains by his hometown of Freedom.

It didn't take long to reach the Viper base and touched down on the main landing strip. There was already a maintenance crew in place waiting for him and within moments of the canopy opening his helmet was off.

"Welcome back to Sagittaron Captain." One of the deck officers said to him.

"Thanks, it's good to be home." He replied.

He stood up and stepped down the ladder now in place on the side of his ship. Another member of the crew passed him his bag from the small cargo hold under the ship.

"Thanks." Archangel said as he took his bag.

It did feel good to be home. It was always nice to feel a real sense of gravity and to feel the sun. There were at least a hundred Vipers lining either side of the landing strip, it was always an impressive sight to see. He began walking to the main building so he could get to the transport bay.

The town of Freedom was three hundred miles away from the capital city. It was situated at the start of the largest range of mountains on the continent. It was home to over 5000 people and had been the place Archangel grew up. He now owned a house 5 miles away from the town. He stepped off the shuttle bus and looked at his hometown, it hadn't changed at all. Still in his Flight Suit he began the long walk up the main street that would take him towards his house. The mountain range dominated the skyline around three sides of the town. The sky was clear and the sun shone from behind the gentle covering of cloud. Freedom always seemed to have a nice breeze from the mountains at this time of year that made the heat very pleasant.

As Archangel reached the end of a long dirt road the trees that had dominated either side of the road thinned out and opened up to reveal a large house with an amazing view over the town. As he reached the front door he took his bag from his back and unzipped one of the front pockets and pulled out a set of keys, which he used to unlock the front door.

Archangel was immediately surprised to see the house was ready for him. All the dustcovers were off the furniture. He threw the bag onto the bottom of the stairs and walked through the long hallway which lead to the kitchen at the back of the house. Archangel unzipped his flight suit and pulled his arms out of the sleeves leaving them to dangle at his side. There was a note on the kitchen table with "Mark" handwritten on the front. He picked up the note and read it.

MARK

Hope your journey was safe and uneventful! We came up to the house for the weekend to get it ready for you. We knew you hadn't been home in nearly two years so we stocked the fridge and made the place liveable. Call us when you get the chance so we know you got home safe. Your brother and Laura send their best and are looking forward to seeing you when you come to Caprica next month.

Have a nice vacation.

Love

Mum and Dad

Typical mum and dad, Archangel thought. His mother always did things like this, not that he really minded. He would probably have only taken the dust covers off the things he needed anyway. As driven and motivated as the young pilot could be he could also be very lazy at times. He walked over to the fridge and opened it.

"Whoa!" he said to himself.

There was no room in the fridge left for anything else; meat, vegetables, drink, beer, sweets, and everything else a fridge needed. He reached inside and pulled out a beer, which he immediately began to drink. It was nice to be home. He hadn't been back in two years. His parents and brother had used the house every now and again.

With beer in hand Archangel walked through the adjoining door to the living room and sat down on the sofa as he reached for the phone. Moments after dialling the number his mother picked up on the other end.

"Hello?" she said.

"Hey it's Mark I just got in. Thanks for sorting the house out. How is everyone?" he asked.

Archangel could tell from his mothers voice how happy she was to talk to him.

"Everyone's fine. Your dads at work and your brothers at college. How was the journey from Atlantia?"

"It was fine thanks. Straight forward and uneventful."

"So did the Admiral have to escort you to your viper to make sure you went?" his mother asked.

Archangel smiled to himself. He knew that she knew the Admiral had been trying to get him to take some time off for a while. This time he had actually ganged up with Archangel's mother to make sure he took the time off.

"No he didn't. You know that it's not been because I haven't wanted to see you guys that I haven't been back."

"Mark we know that. At least you know that all your hard work has been worth it. After all you are the Atlantia's CAG."

"It has been worth it and you know what I actually am glad that I've taken this time off. I'm looking forward to relaxing for a while."

He looked out of the huge windows that faced him that looked out over the mountains and the valley where the town was and he was genuinely pleased to be home.

"Even though you do live on Caprica I'm looking forward to seeing you guys as well." Archangel added with a smile.

"Hey it's not that bad here. You should give it a chance."

"I know I'm only kidding. Caprica's not that bad, it's just not Sagittaron!" Archangel said.

"Anyway have fun. So we're meeting on Virgon in two weeks and then you're coming here for next month?" his mother said.

"Yeah."

"Okay well I'll let you go. Enjoy yourself, that's an order!" she joked.

"Yes Ma'am. Say hi to everyone for me."

"Will do. I love you."

"Love you too."

Now wearing civilian clothing Archangel walked down the main street of Freedom. He stopped outside a bar called Archer's and walked inside. Inside the bar was the same as any other. Tables, booths, pool tables, a jukebox and lots of people. Archangel walked through the crowd of people to the bar where he saw a group of familiar faces.

"So what's a guy got to do to get a drink around here?" Archangel asked.

The small group of five men all turned around upon hearing the familiar voice. None of them could believe their eyes, they hadn't seen their school friend for nearly three years. The man nearest Archangel was a giant, he had blonde hair and was wearing his scruffy work clothes. He was called Danny and had been one of Archangel's closest friends since they were eight years old.

"Archangel, what are you doing here?" Danny asked in amazement.

He threw his arms around his friend and gave him a hug.

"I thought I'd come and make sure you guys weren't causing any trouble." Archangel replied.

Danny was stood with four of Archangel's closest and oldest friends; Jim, David, Lee and Mike who everyone knew as Skeeter took it in turns to welcome their friend home.

"Archer look whose back, get us a round of beers." Skeeter said.

Archer was the owner of the bar, he had lived in Freedom for all his 47 years. He looked up from the beer he was pulling and stopped when he saw who was standing in his bar. Archangel was one of the town's success stories. Not many people moved away from Freedom and did much with their lives. He had known Archangel since they had first started drinking in his bar when they were younger and had always had a soft spot for the group of friends. He handed the pint to the bar maid next to him and walked towards the familiar face with his hand held out. Archangel shook it and smiled at his friend.

"Well I'll be damned. Good to see you Captain." Archer said.

He had a huge smile across his face as he spoke.

"Good to see you too." Archangel replied.

"When did you get back into town?" Archer asked.

"A few hours ago. I've taken a couple of months leave so I thought I'd catch up with everyone." Archangel said.

"You guys go get a table I'll bring your drinks over, they're on me." Archer said.

The five of Archangel's friends cheered before making their way through to the back of the bar to one of the only booth's left. The six men all sat down.

"So how's the Battlestar Atlantia treating you?" Lee asked.

"It's good. You know me I just love being in space." Archangel replied.

"So let me see if you've got this right, you're the CAG of the fleet's flagship?" David asked.

"That's right." Archangel replied

"Well it was what you always wanted." David said.

"It's the reason you guys haven't seen me in so long. I put in as many hours as I could, I really wanted that job." Archangel said.

"Well we always knew you'd do it." Danny added.

Danny patted his friend on the back as he spoke.

"So what's new in Freedom? What have I missed?" Archangel asked.

"You remember where you are yeah? The most boring place in the colonies!" Skeeter said.

"Come on something must have happened, it's been three years." Archangel said.

"Ignore him, he's still always moaning about this place but never does anything to get out of here!" Lee replied.

"Hey why should I? I have my own business, things are good." Skeeter said.

"So how's the garage going?" Archangel asked.

"Good man, we're the only garage in the damn town, everyone comes to me!" Skeeter replied.

"You still working there Danny?" Archangel asked.

"Sure am Arch, there's always stuff to do." Danny replied.

The other guys always looked after Danny. They had been friends since they were little kids. Danny had never been the brightest guy in the colonies, he struggled with a lot of work. His mother had always looked after him, but when she died a few years ago leaving him with no one, the guys made sure that he was always okay.

Moments later Archer came over with a tray of beers and passed them round.

"So how long you back for Captain?" Archer asked.

Archer had always called Archangel by his rank since he had become a pilot. Everyone else either called him Mark or Archangel.

"I'll be here for a month more or less, and then I'm heading back to Caprica to see my folks for a month."

"Come round tomorrow at lunch time, I'll sort you guys out with some food and we can catch up properly." Archer said.

"I'll look forward to it." Archangel replied.

"Anyway duty calls. You guys let me know when you need more drinks, they're all on me tonight." Archer said.

"That reminds me your dad brought your truck in when they were here at the weekend for a once over. Everything's cool and I took it back up to your garage." Skeeter said.

"Thanks man. I'm looking forward to going for a drive." Archangel replied.

For the next few hours the friends drank more and more alcohol and caught up. As the night wore on all five of them were rather drunk. Archangel felt good to be home, he had forgotten how much he missed his friends. Although they hadn't spent more than a few days together in the past three years it felt like it always did.

"Okay gentlemen I have a suggestion." Archangel said.

Archangel slurred his words as he spoke.

"I have four bottles of Ambrosia at home. I suggest that we finish our beers and then walk back to my house." Archangel added.

"I'm afraid gentlemen that I am going to have to head home. The only reason I'm not gonna be in trouble with the wife is cos you're here and she knows how long it's been since we were all together." Jim said

Jim pointed to Archangel and got to his feet. He swayed a little bit before composing himself. He shook the hand off all of his friends before speaking again.

"However, I do suggest that we do this again. Let's go up to the spot in the mountains where we used to get drunk when we were kids this weekend." Jim added.

The drunken rabble agreed and before long there was just Archangel, Skeeter and Danny sitting in the now empty bar. The place had shut nearly an hour previously but Archer had left the friends to catch up some more.

"So are you guys gonna wimp out on me as well, or are you gonna help me drink some of my Ambrosia?" Archangel asked.

Skeeter finished his beer and looked up at his friend with a grin on his face.

"One of the perks of being your own boss is that if you want to stay out late and get drunk, there's no one to tell you off in the morning. What do you say Danny, want to go to Mark's?" Skeeter said.

"Sure thing Skeeter." Danny replied.

After saying their goodbyes to Archer they made their way back. As the three friends staggered to Archangel's they carried on chatting.

"So you got to tell us, any hot women on the Atlantia?" Skeeter asked.

"I'm surprised it took you so long to ask. Yeah there are plenty of them and no I'm not with anyone. Can't really have a relationship with most of the crew as they're my subordinates and those that are ranked higher than me, well they're all male so that's out of the question. What about you guys?" Archangel said.

"You know me there's always a girl, just haven't found one that I want to become Mrs Skeeter yet." Skeeter laughed.

"What about you Danny, anyone you got your eye on?" Archangel asked.

Danny stayed quiet, he always got a little embarrassed whenever the topic of women came up even with his closest friends.

"Come on Danny tell him about Cara." Skeeter said.

"Who's Cara?" Archangel asked.

"She's just someone I met at the school when I was doing my night class." Danny replied.

"And?" Archangel asked.

"We've been out on a few dates, she's nice." Danny said.

"Good for you Danny, nice to see at least one of us is making the effort." Archangel replied.

Moments later the road widened out and they were in front of Archangel's house. As they got to the door Archangel fumbled about in his pocket for his door keys, then spent the next three minutes trying to drunkenly put the key into the lock. Archangel fumbled the light switch on as they all staggered inside. Suddenly Skeeter dashed across the hallway in the direction of the bathroom.

"Shotgun!" Skeeter yelled as he ran.

He slammed the door. Archangel and Danny walked down the hallway to the living room at the back of the house. Danny slumped down onto one of the large sofas as Archangel headed to the bar in the corner of the room.

"When you go back will it be so long till we see you again?" Danny asked.

"I don't know buddy. Depends on where they send the Atlantia. I have a lot of responsibilities now." Archangel replied. He saw Danny's face drop a little bit at the answer.

"I know Arch, it's just that I miss you, you know. I mean it's nice having the other guys around but it's not the same." Danny replied.

"I tell you what I promise I'll definitely be here for your birthday." Archangel said.

Danny's face lit up at that. Archangel sat next to him putting a bottle of Ambrosia and three glassed onto the glass coffee table in front of them.

"Tell you what, I'll have a word with Skeeter and see if he'll give you a few days off next month so you can come stay with me and the folks on Caprica how about that?" Archangel said.

"That would be nice."

"Want some Ambrosia?" Archangel asked.

Danny nodded his head.

"Yes please."

Archangel poured the drinks as Skeeter walked through and slumped on the sofa opposite them.

"Why is it one beer seems to equal three trips to the bathroom?" Skeeter asked.

"Because you're a lightweight." Archangel replied.

Danny laughed out loud.

"Hey I am not!" Skeeter exclaimed.

"You're as big a lightweight as you were when you were 15 and used to sneak up into the mountains." Archangel said.

Skeeter sat and thought for a minute.

"In fairness you're probably right." Skeeter said.

He took a glass of ambrosia and began to drink as he finished speaking. Archangel picked up his glass and held it up.

"Here's to old friends." Archangel said.

"Old friends." Danny and Skeeter both said together.

They clinked their glasses together and each took a sip.

"Here's to Captain Mark "Archangel" Hunter CAG of the Battlestar Atlantia." Skeeter said.

"CAPTAIN MARK HUNTER!" Danny yelled.

Archangel smiled to himself and began to drink more of his drink.

"Danny I think we should have the day off tomorrow, what do you think?" Skeeter asked.

"Yeah, can we?" Danny asked.

"What do you say Captain you up for an all nighter?" Skeeter asked.

"Why not. You guys are more than welcome to crash out here." Archangel replied.

…..

DAY 1

The Atlantia's flight group were sitting talking waiting for Lieutenant Mal "Whirlwind" Thomas. Moments later Mal walked in, all of them could see that something was not right with the lieutenant, they could see it on his face. He had no idea of how the Admiral was going to break the news.

"Quiet down guys." Mal said quietly.

He waited for a few moments before speaking.

"Sorry I'm late, I, er, just got out of a briefing with the Admiral, he's about to make a statement to the ship."

Lieutenant Julie "Static" Gillis was the quickest to ask the question everyone was thinking.

"What's up Whirlwind you look like you've seen a ghost?" Static asked.

Before he could reply the ships intercom system buzzed in.

"All hands this is the Admiral. It is my duty to inform you all that the colonies are under attack from Cylon forces."

The shock hit all the pilots at the same time, now Whirlwind could see on their faces what they had seen on his.

"The attack happened twenty minutes ago and we have received word that they achieved complete surprise wiping out Picon Fleet Headquarters in the first wave with a massive nuclear bombardment. Reports keep coming through and it seems that at least Caprica, Arilon and Sagittaron have been hit as well. I have taken command of the fleet and we will meet the rest of the fleet at Virgon where most of the Cylon fleet seems to be massing. We will strike back hard and we will make them pay for the damage they have caused. You're the best in the fleet, let's show these toasters what we're made of, Negala out."

As he finished speaking the ship went into condition one and sirens began to sound. The entire briefing room was silent, no one knew what to say. Mal took a deep breath and tried to compose himself. He wished Archangel was here to lead the charge, he hoped his friend was okay on Sagittaron.

Lieutenant Carlist "Breakneck" Ramos was the first person to be able to speak. "Has there been any news from Archangel."

"Not yet. He'll be okay." Whirlwind replied.

Mal took another deep breath and let all his fears and doubts out of his body with the breath.

"Okay people you all know the drill and we've all trained for this. We'll be leading the Viper attack. Keep your eyes peeled and stay with your wingman at all times. With a little help from the Gods we'll show these Cylons they should have never come back here. I want everyone to go and check your bird. We cannot afford for anything to go wrong check your ordinance and fuel, the deck crew are running systems checks already. We should be heading to Virgon within the next few hours. Good hunting."

Archangel awoke in his bed to find the mother of all hangovers had taken up residence in his head. He groaned as he rubbed his eyes. He looked over at the clock, which read 12.15pm he had had six hours sleep, better than usual he thought. He reached over to his bedside table where he had placed a tumbler of water and headache tablets the night before. He took two from the packet and drank them down with the whole tumbler. He lay there for a few moments as he stretched and tried to wake up. At least he was in the mountains, mountain air was the best cure for a hangover. He knew that before long Skeeter would be making one of his famous fry-ups, his personal top tip for a hangover so Archangel thought he should get some air before the house stank of bacon and eggs. He got out of bed, still wearing the trousers he had worn out the night before. He couldn't remember much but knew his two friends were passed out somewhere in the house. If he could get up and ready without waking them a jog to the lake would help clear his head. He reached his curtains which lead to the balcony overlooking the front view from the house. As he opened the curtains he stopped dead in his tracks. His eyes widened as he counted six nuclear mushroom clouds in the distance. He stood transfixed for the next few moments not sure if he should believe what he was seeing or not. They didn't go away. What the frak was going on, he thought. The only thing he could think was terrorists. Then he bolted for the door he ran downstairs as fast as he could straight into the kitchen. There was a locked door there, the only locked door in the house. There was a keypad hidden behind a panel in the wall. He tore it off and typed in a four digit pass code which opened the door to a set of stairs leading down to another locked door. As the door at the top of the stairs closed he typed in the next pass code unlocking the second door. Only one door could be opened at a time, a safety feature that held the basements contents as a secret. As the door opened the lights flickered on to reveal an arsenal of weapons down one side of the basement and supplies down the other. He grabbed a med kit and ran back upstairs to the house and into the living room where his two friends were passed out still on the sofas, they hadn't even made it to the spare beds.

"GET UP NOW!" Archangel yelled.

His two friends began to stir as he opened the med kit and took out three doses of anti radiation meds.

"GET UP NOW!" he repeated.

"Man don't shout my head is killing me." Skeeter said as he rubbed his eyes.

"I'm only going to say this to you both once more, GET UP NOW!" Archangel yelled.

"Gods man what bug got up your ass." Skeeter said

"Take a look out of the window. Danny get up." Archangel replied.

As Skeeter's eyes adjusted to being awake the fear of what he saw out of the window took over. He stood up and walked to the window.

"Arch what's up, why are you shouting?" Danny asked.

He saw Archangel push the needle full of anti radiation meds into his neck.

"Arch what's wrong? What have you just taken?"

Archangel picked up one of the other needles.

"Danny you have to take this medication." Archangel said.

"Why I'm not sick?" Danny said.

"Danny take a look out of the window." Skeeter said.

Skeeter took the other needle from the table and injected it into his own neck. Danny saw the mushroom clouds but had no idea of just how bad the situation was.

"What's going on? Arch you know I'm scared of injections." Danny said.

Archangel looked at his friend.

"Danny those are nuclear detonations. We're under attack." Archangel replied.

"From who?" Danny asked.

"I don't know but if you don't take this you will die." Archangel replied.

"Arch you're scaring me." Danny said.

Archangel grabbed his friend by either side of his head.

"Do you trust me?"

"Of course." Danny replied.

"Then you have to take this medication."

"Ok but you do it."

Tears rolled down Danny's face as Archangel gave him the meds.

"Skeeter put the TV on see if there's any news on what's going on." Archangel said.

"Ok" Skeeter replied.

As Skeeter went to turn the TV on Archangel picked up his phone, the line was dead.

"Frak." Archangel exclaimed.

He ran back to the kitchen and back into the basement. He picked up a colonial emergency radio and went back up stairs. As he reached the living room Skeeter and Danny were both watching a news broadcast.

"Anything?" Archangel asked.

"Man this is fraked up." Skeeter said

"What is it?" Archangel replied.

He sat down next to his friend and began to turn the radio on.

"From what I can make out it's the fraking Cylons and they're doing this all over the colonies." Skeeter told him unable to take his gaze away from the television.

"The Cylons?"

"Yeah." Skeeter replied.

As the radio powered up Archangel typed in the code for Viper Fleet Headquarters but the line was dead.

"Frak!" Archangel exclaimed again

"What's wrong is your radio not working?" Danny asked.

"It's working but I'm getting no line to Viper Headquarters. They're either being jammed or…"

"Or?" Skeeter asked

"Or they've been destroyed." Archangel replied.

He then dialled in the code for Picon Fleet Headquarters and hoped that there was a satellite up there that was working. As the signal connected he was diverted somewhere else.

"This is the Colonial Flight Academy please verify your access codes." A female voice said.

"7467-4512-7 Hunter." Archangel replied.

"Code verified Captain, what's your status?" she asked.

"I'm on Sagittaron and I'm alive. What the hell has been going on?"

"The colonies are under a massive attack from the Cylons sir. They came from nowhere and took complete surprise."

"Why was I diverted to you? I tried Viper Command and Fleet Headquarters." Archangel asked.

"They were both destroyed in the initial attack sir, from what we can tell we're the only ones left."

"What I need from you is a line to the Battlestar Atlantia, can you do that for me?" he asked.

"Hold on sir I'll try."

The line went quiet.

The Atlantia's CIC was huge. Filled with the most up to date technology available. Admiral Negala stood on deck quietly praying to the gods. His XO Colonel Phillip Black stood next to him.

"Admiral the Triton has just arrived." Black said.

"Good, a few more ships and we'll be ready to go. What's the ETA on the rest of the fleet?" Negala replied.

Captain Maria Noble, the ships comm. Officer replied. "Sir they will be here in 30 minutes. The Galactica however will be longer. They were in the middle of their decommissioning ceremony and have no ordinance, they're trying to locate some before they join the attack."

Negala was pleased to hear that, having Bill Adama by his side made him feel more at ease, the two had been friends for a long time.

"Admiral I have someone on the line from the Colonial Flight Academy, they say they have Archangel on the line and he is requesting to speak with you." Petty Officer Anderson said.

"Put it down here." Negala replied

Admiral Negala picked up the handset in front of him.

"Archangel?" he asked.

"Good to hear your voice Admiral." Archangel replied.

Admiral Negala seemed to be a little relieved to hear his CAG's voice.

"Are you okay?" Negala asked.

"Yeah, I can count 6 nuclear detonations over the planet. What the frak is going on?"

"They came out of nowhere. No warning, nothing. This is happening everywhere. We're about to engage their fleet." Negala replied.

Danny and Skeeter are glued to the TV set as more news pours in about the attack.

"I tried to contact Viper Command and Fleet Headquarters but I was put through to the flight academy. I was going to try and get to my ship and get to you."

"Viper Command and Fleet Headquarters were wiped out in the initial attack. We have taken massive casualties."

"They're only going to get worse with the fall out. What are my orders sir?" Archangel asked.

"Stay alive Captain. If you can get to a ship try and get off planet. If you don't pick us up on dradis head for Caprica, we'll get to you as soon as we've finished with the Cylons."

"Good hunting sir." Archangel said, he knew this could be the last time he ever spoke to his C/O.

"You too Archangel." He replied

Archangel puts the receiver down and lets out a huge sigh. He sat blankly staring into space for a few moments, trying to collect his thoughts and come up with a plan of action.

"You okay?" Skeeter asked.

"Suddenly my hangover is the least of my worries." Archangel replied.

"What are we going to do?" Skeeter asked.

Both Danny and Skeeter looked to their friend. He could see the fear in both their eyes.

"We go into town and find the others." Archangel replied.

"What about the Cylons?" Danny asked.

"We'll worry about that if and when we see any. Now we have to find the others and get them some anti radiation meds before it's too late. Then we find a ship and get the hell out of here." Archangel said.

"I don't mean to be a party pooper but go where? This is happening everywhere." Skeeter said.

"We jump to Caprica, I have to know if my parents are alive. Then we find the Atlantia and take it from there." Archangel replied.

"Do you wish you were there?" Skeeter asked.

"Yes and no." Archangel replied.

Archangel stood up.

"I need you guys to follow me." Archangel said.

Danny and Skeeter followed Archangel into the kitchen and then down into the basement.

"Where are we going?" Danny asked.

As the second door opened Archangel's two friends stood in stunned silence as they saw the weaponry and supplies he had.

"Mark, were you expecting this or something? Does everyone in the fleet have a room like this?" Skeeter asked.

Archangel turned to face his two friends as he picked up a t-shirt to put on.

"What I'm about to tell you is top secret. Whoever we meet you cannot repeat what I am about to say." Archangel said.

"You can trust us man." Skeeter replied.

Archangel took a deep breath before revealing his most closely guarded secret.

"I'm not just a Viper pilot."

"What do you mean?" Danny asked.

"I'm a member of the Colonial Fleet Black Ops unit. The Atlantia is our base of operations."

"Are you serious?" Skeeter asked, of all the answers he could have heard he hadn't expected this one.

"Deadly." Archangel replied.

"Is everyone on Atlantia Black Ops?" Skeeter asked.

"No, not everyone."

He picked up two holstered handguns with armour piercing attachments and held them out to his two friends.

"I want you to take these." Archangel said.

Skeeter took one of them and began putting the holster on. Danny just stood in amazement.

"Arch I don't know how to fight Cylons." Danny said.

"It's for protection and I want you to take it. There is a good chance we're going to need to protect ourselves from humans as well. People are going to be frantic and won't hesitate to take peoples supplies. I need to know you're both armed and have got my back." Archangel said.

Danny reached out and took the weapon.

"You guys know how to use those?" Archangel asked.

"Yeah we go for target practice every now and then." Skeeter replied

"Here's the deal. If you see a cylon shoot. Aim for the head. When it comes to people don't shoot unless I tell you okay." Archangel said.

Both of his friends nodded their heads. Archangel picked up a large box of anti radiation meds.

"Danny I want you to take these."

"No problem you can count on me." Danny replied.

Archangel strapped two side arms to his legs.

"We stay together at all times." Archangel said.

He handed them a radio each.

"If for any reason we get separated call me immediately."

The garage at the side of the house slid open and Archangel's jeep screamed out with the three friends inside. They looked at the nuclear clouds on the horizon, more kept appearing.

"For what it's worth, I'm sure glad you came back yesterday. We'd be dead otherwise." Skeeter said.

"We'll be okay, I'll get us off planet. It may take a while but I'll get us away."

On the CIC of Atlantia Colonel Black walked over to his CO.

"Sir everyone is here, we're ready." The XO said.

"Petty Officer Anderson, put me through to the entire fleet." Negala said.

"Yes sir, channel open." She replied.

The Admiral picked up the handset and spoke to his Battlestar and the 40 others that had joined him ready for battle.

"This is the Admiral we are ready to begin our counter assault. I have faith that we can do this. For all the people who have died and all the people who are still alive, lets make these cylon bastards pay for what they have done. Good hunting everyone."

The Admiral turned his attention to Captain Noble.

"The board is green sir. All gun turrets are manned and the vipers are in the tubes." Noble said.

"Very well, jump."

As Captain Noble put the jump key into the lock she began to count.

"All ships jump on my mark. 5-4-3-2-1 mark." Noble said.

All 40 Battlestars jumped in a bright flash of light. Moments later they re-appeared near Virgon. 50 Cylon Basestars sat waiting.

"Launch Vipers." Negala ordered.

Whirlwind sat in his Viper ready to go, the pre-flight checks were done and moments later he along with the other vipers were launched into space. The Vipers from all 40 Battlestars began to take up their positions, thousands of vipers flew towards the thousands of cylon raiders that had been launched.

"All vipers this is Whirlwind, lets make these bastards pay, weapons free and open racks."

As the Raiders got closer the Lieutenant wished Archangel was here with him, at least he was alive, knowing him, looking for as many Cylons to destroy as possible. Whirlwind could see that the raiders were emitting red lights, just like the old Cylons used to. Then the unthinkable happened, every system in his ship shut down.

"Oh frak me." Whirlwind said.

He urgently tried to reboot his ship but nothing was working and the Cylons were almost upon them.

"Kriptar, kriptar my ship has shut down, repeat my ship has shut down." Whirlwind said starting to panic slightly.

As he looked out of his cockpit he noticed that he wasn't the only one, every viper he could see was floating dead in space.

"Admiral I've lost all contact with the Vipers." Anderson said.

"What?" Negala replied.

As he finished speaking the CIC was plunged into darkness, gravity went off line and people began floating away from their stations.

"What the hell is going on?" Negala shouted.

"I have no idea sir, we've lost all ships systems." Noble replied

Whirlwind sat in silence, he knew this was the end. As the cylon raiders all launched missiles the base stars launched their own, enough to wipe out every single stranded Battlestar. He closed his eyes and let out a deep breath as a missile honed in on him. Then it was all over.

As Archangel turned into the main street it was deserted, just as the rest of the town had been.

"Where the hell is everyone?" Skeeter said.

"The attack began hours ago. They must have all skipped town as soon as it happened and we were still asleep." Archangel replied.

They had already been to the homes of Jim, David and Lee but there was no sign of them. They were heading to Archer's to see if he was still about. Archangel pulled up outside the bar and got out of the jeep, followed by the other.

"This is the most bizarre thing I've ever seen." Skeeter said.

Archangel walked to the front door of the bar but it was locked.

"Come on we'll try round back." Archangel said.

They jumped the fence at the back of the building that lead to the courtyard. Archer's car was still there. Archangel tried the backdoor and to his surprise it was unlocked. He carefully opened the door and walked inside. The back corridor lead through to a store room which in turn lead to the kitchen.

"Archer you here?" Archangel shouted.

There was no reply. As they walked into the bar there was still no sign of life.

"There's no one here man. Everyone must have run as soon as it started." Skeeter said.

"They won't get far." Archangel replied.

"What do you mean? Why?" Danny asked.

"We're 300 miles away from the nearest spaceport. That's where most people will have gone. The people who didn't die from the blasts will die from radiation sickness. If the fleet looses as soon as they've finished with the bombardment they'll send troops down to clear up any survivors."

"Not to put a downer on things but then how are we going to get to one?" Skeeter asked.

"There are several off the map airstrips around. We get to one find a Raptor and get the hell out of here." Archangel replied.

"And the Cylons?" Skeeter asked.

"We destroy every last one we come across. Guys I've had training for this situation, we'll make it."

"If everyone has gone what do we do now?" Danny asked.

"We fill the jeep with what supplies are left in town, then we make our move. Danny go into the storeroom and find a couple of boxes. Fill one with as much bottled water as you can find. The other with whatever packaged food you can find." Archangel replied.

"No problem Archangel." Danny said with purpose.

As Danny walked out towards the back of the bar Archangel turned to Skeeter.

"We need to check upstairs." Archangel said.

They walked to the back of the room to the door that led upstairs. As they reached the top of the stairs Archangel drew one of his handguns and kept it at his side.

"Go check the living room and the kitchen." Archangel said.

"No problem." Skeeter replied.

As Skeeter walked off down the hall and disappeared into the living room Archangel walked into the bedroom. As soon as he got inside he stopped dead in his tracks. He saw Archer's body sat upright on his bed, a photo album open across his lap, a revolver in his hand. Blood covered the wall and headboard behind him. He had taken his own life, this was the last thing Archangel had expected. He put his gun back in its holster and walked over to his friend. He looked at the open pages of the album and immediately he understood why Archer had done it. On the pages were two pictures of Archer and his wife on their wedding day. Six years ago he had lost her in a shuttle accident. Archer, being Archer had carried on as usual but those closest to him knew how much it had affected him. Archangel knew that Archer would have taken one look at the nuclear clouds and decided it was time to be with his wife again. Archangel moved one of the bedcovers to cover up his friend as Skeeter walked in.

"Oh man what happened?" Skeeter asked.

Archangel wiped tears from his eyes before he replied.

"He decided it was time to be with Anne again."

Archangel took the photograph of Archer and Anne from the open page and placed it on his covered friend. He picked up the photo album.

"Come on lets go." Archangel said.

The two friends silently walked back downstairs to the bar as Danny walked through from the back with a box full of supplies.

"You guys been upstairs? Did you find Archer?" he asked.

Archangel and Skeeter looked at each other before either of them spoke.

"He left a note for us. He headed for the space port, he's probably off world already." Skeeter lied.

"Come on let's go." Archangel said.

As Archangel walked out onto the street he took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Everyone on the planet was going to die, everyone in the Colonies was going to die. The Cylons would kill those who didn't die from the radiation when they landed troops. He looked at his two friends and wondered if it was worth even trying to get off planet. Part of him wanted to put his own gun to his head right now, and then he remembered what Admiral Negala had said to him, "stay alive". He decided then and there what he would do, stay alive.

"Can we drop by my shop? I have some things I want to pick up." Skeeter asked.

"Sure lets go, we'll stop off at the market on the way back, see if there are any supplies left." Archangel replied.

As the three of them got back into Archangel's truck another two nuclear explosions went off in the distance. No one said a word as the two mushroom clouds ballooned in the distance. Archangel started the ignition and sped off down the street. They drove in silence for the next few minutes but Archangel's mind was working overtime. The nuclear detonations had been continuous all day and would probably carry on till nightfall. If the Cylons had destroyed the Colonial Fleet which he assumed they had due the continuing nuclear explosions they would eliminate their most immediate threat before landing troops, wipe out the remaining military vessels. The cities would be the first targets for the troops, which gave them a little more time as they were essentially in the middle of nowhere.

Minutes later they arrived outside Skeeter's garage. All three of them got out.

"Need a hand with anything?" Archangel asked.

"There should be eight cans of gas in the workshop, put four in the back of your truck and leave four outside, I'll be right back. Danny if you want to get any of your things get them now I doubt we'll be coming back." Skeeter said.

Skeeter went inside the garage while Danny went upstairs to his apartment. Skeeter had let him live in the apartment above the garage free of rent since his mother died. Archangel walked into the shop area, unsurprisingly it was a mess and it brought a smile to his face. He saw the eight cans and picked up two and took them and put them in the back of his truck.

As he stacked the last two cans outside he heard the roar of another automobile engine, he reacted immediately drawing both his side arms. He put them away as he saw Skeeter drive around in his truck, he smiled as he got out.

"Thought we could use another truck, just in case." Skeeter said.

"We need to get moving, I want everything packed and ready to move before it gets dark. I want to get to the market, see if there is any bottled water left. We have enough to last a while but you can never have too much."

"Agreed, I need some smokes as well." Skeeter said.

Danny appeared moments later with a crammed backpack. They put the rest of the gas into the back of Skeeter's truck and then were on their way again. Archangel led the way with Skeeter and Danny following to the town's largest food market. As Skeeter's garage and market were on Freedom's main street, it didn't take long for them to get there. They both parked right out side the main entrance. Archangel drew one of his guns as they walked to the door. Skeeter held a shotgun in his hand.

"Never leave home without it!" Skeeter said.

Skeeter pumped the weapon as he spoke with a grin across his face.

"Danny grab the trolley." Archangel said

Archangel and Skeeter were on alert as they walked into the unlit market. As Archangel expected people had already been there on there was out of town. There was carnage everywhere. In the whole store they managed to find four bottles of water.

"I want to pick up a few bits." Skeeter said.

He pointed to the cigarettes and made his way over followed by Danny with the trolley. Happy there was no one ready to surprise them Archangel holstered his weapon and picked up a pack of candy bars on the rack next to him and opened one and began to eat it, to hell with it, he thought and grabbed a couple more packs. He walked over to the others and threw the candy into the trolley, which was now full of cigarettes, Skeeter was going behind the counter to get more. He stopped dead in his tracks.

"Oh frak me." He said.

Archangel and Danny walked over to him. They saw the shop owner who they had known since they were kids lying in a pool of his own blood. It looked to Archangel as if he had been beaten to death. Danny turned and threw up as Archangel checked for a pulse.

"Come on lets go, we've got what we came for." Archangel said.

Archangel sat in his truck deep in thought, it amazed him to think that someone in the town, who probably went to the store everyday, who they more than likely knew had beaten the shop owner to death. As they turned onto the dirt track that led to his home he was hit with a huge twinge of sadness knowing that this was likely to be the last time he would ever drive home. He had bought the house years ago and although he'd never really lived there it had always been home, it had meant to be the place he would retire too. As the road began to widen out again to reveal the hidden house alarm bells began to sound in his mind as he saw the front door was open when he knew he'd shut it. He stopped the truck and got out, as he did he drew one of his guns.

"What the hell is going on?" Skeeter said.

Skeeter and Danny had both noticed Archangel draw one of his guns. He stopped his truck next to Archangel's and they both got out. As Skeeter opened his mouth to speak Archangel held his finger to his mouth telling them to be quiet. They walked over to him, Skeeter with his shotgun ready.

"I didn't leave the front door open. I'm going inside to see if there's anyone there. Stay out here." Archangel whispered.

"What do you want us to do?" Skeeter replied quietly.

"If you hear shooting, come find me, but stay quiet." Archangel said.

They both nodded. As Danny drew his gun from its holster he looked at Skeeter who could see the worry on his face.

Archangel silently walked into his house with a handgun raised in front of him, both hands firmly on the grip. As he slowly and silently walked through the hallway he could hear movement coming from the kitchen at the back of the house. His Black Op's training had kicked in the moment he had walked through the door. His mind clear of thought, ready, listening for and too every sound. As he reached the doorway to the kitchen his weapon was by his side and his back against the wall so no one would be able to see him. A woman sat on one of his kitchen chairs with her back to him. Her blonde hair tied back away from her face which he couldn't as yet see. She was wearing a vest top and shorts and seemed to be looking at her right ankle. An open Med Pack sat on the table next to her. Without making a sound he moved from the doorway across the kitchen to where the woman was sitting, as he reached her he pressed the muzzle of his gun into the back of her head.

"Who are you and what are you doing in my house?" Archangel said.

She froze, not expecting to hear someone from behind her, never mind feel what she assumed was a gun pressed into the back of her head.

"Please, please don't shoot me. I, I, I thought whoever lived here must have gone, the front door was unlocked. I was hiking in the mountains. When I saw the explosions I tried to get back to the town, I fell and cut up my ankle, I saw your house and knew I needed to see to it. My name is Grace, please don't shoot me." She said.

Archangel lowered his gun and put it back in its holster. He moved around the table and saw Grace for the first time. She was strikingly beautiful and for a second or two he didn't know what to say.

"I'm sorry things have been a little nuts today. My name is Archangel." He said.

"Archangel?" she replied.

"Sorry, Mark. Archangel is my call sign, let me see your ankle."

She moved a bandage away and he saw a cut on her ankle which looked clean. The cut looked much worse than it actually was.

"Are you in the military?" Grace asked.

Archangel nodded his head as he dressed the wound.

"Yeah I'm a Viper Pilot. Your ankle isn't as bad as it looks. Have you had any anti-radiation meds?" he asked.

Grace shook her head. "No I was going to walk into town and find a hospital."

"I have some here that you can have."

He reached into one of his pocket in his trousers and handed her one of the spare tins he had. She opened it up and took out the needle and looked at Archangel.

"We have to take it everyday till we get off the planet. I'll be right back."

Skeeter and Danny looked at each other, they hadn't spoken a word since Archangel went inside. Danny looked at the gun in his hand and then looked up at his friend.

"Should we go see if he's okay?" Danny whispered.

As Skeeter opened his mouth to speak, Archangel appeared in the doorway.

"It's okay." He said.

They both followed Archangel to the kitchen where they saw Grace injecting the anti-rad meds into her arm.

"Skeeter and Danny this is Grace." Archangel said.

By nightfall both trucks were packed and ready for the journey ahead. Archangel and the others sat in the living room. Archangel had insisted only candlelight, as it was less likely to be seen from the mountains or the town. Rain was driving down outside, nuclear bomb blasts were still going off in the distance but a few had been getting closer but the mountains protected them. The blasts were also a lot less frequent. There was a map of the country on the table.

"As much as we can we're going to stay away from the cities. There is no way we'll be able to avoid the Cylons the whole time so we're all going to have to be armed." Archangel said.

"Where exactly are we going?" Grace asked.

Archangel circled three areas on the map that did not appear to be of any significance.

"These are three off the map airstrips. We need to find a Raptor and make a jump to Caprica. As it's the capital planet there is more chance of being found by a rescue party. We'll check all the other air strips but these three are our best chances." Archangel replied.

"Man they're a long way from here." Skeeter said.

"I know but we have to get off this planet. Within a few days there are going to be Cylons everywhere, we need to get as far as we can as quickly as we can. We're going to come into contact with Cylon forces, I'm trying to minimize the amount of fighting that we're going to have to do." Archangel replied.

Skeeter, Danny and Grace looked at each other. Archangel knew what they were thinking without them even having to speak.

"Are you sure we can do this?" Grace asked.

"We have to. Anyway I for one am going to take this opportunity to get a good nights sleep. I suggest you all do the same, who knows when we'll get to sleep in a bed again. Goodnight guys." Archangel said.

Archangel got up and walked through to the kitchen. He stopped at the kitchen table, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Skeeter walked in behind him.

"You okay?" Skeeter asked.

Archangel took another deep breath and turned to face his friend.

"As okay as I can be." He replied.

He looked through to the living room and saw Grace and Danny talking.

"When it comes to it I don't think he'll be able to pull the trigger."

"What makes you say that?" Skeeter replied.

"I know. I can tell, the first time at least he's going to freeze. I hate to do this to you but I need to know that you will."

"I will." Skeeter replied.

"Like I said earlier it might not always be Cylons."

"Mark, no matter what happens I've got your back. Don't worry I will pull the trigger."

Archangel sat on the couch in his bedroom staring out into the night sky. He had one of his handguns on his lap, a bottle of beer in his hand and a couple more full ones on the floor. A quiet knock on his door made him turn around. Grace stood there.

"May I come in?" she asked.

"Sure." He replied

Grace walked into the room and sat down next to him.

"Beer?"

"Please."

Archangel put his gun on the floor and picked up a bottle and passed it to her.

"Have the explosions finished?" Grace asked.

"Yeah about an hour ago. I've seen quite a number of ships flying around, I don't think they're Colonial."

"Near here?"

"No not yet, they're mostly over Capital City as far as I can tell. They'll be starting to land troops."

They sat in silence for a few moments as they drank their drinks.

"How come you're here? If you're a Viper pilot I mean."

"I'm on vacation, which I suppose is permanent now."

"Would you rather be up there, in the fight?"

"Part of me wishes I had been. If I had though Skeeter and Danny would probably have died."

"Maybe they'd have been able to get to a space port. Do you think the people that left the town will have made it?"

Archangel took another sip from his drink.

"It won't have done them any good if they did."

"Why not?"

"We're hundreds of mile away from the nearest port. Those that made it by the time they got there a ban will have been put in place on all space travel. Most of the people who survived will either die of radiation poisoning or by the hands of the Cylons. Within I'd say a week anyone who survived will either be dying or fighting for their lives." Archangel said.

"Well I'm glad I found you, makes me feel a lot better about my chances of survival."

Archangel smiled.

"I'll get you off this rock."

"I'd appreciate that." She replied with a smile.

"So where are you from anyway?" he asked.

"Leonis."

"You're a long way from home."

"I come here once a year for the mountains. Sagittaron has the best mountain ranges in all of the Colonies."

"I've said the same thing to people. So what do you do on Leonis?"

"I'm a dentist."

"Ah someone useful, that's what I like to hear!"

Grace laughed and took another sip from her drink.

"Is your family on Leonis?"

"No, my parents died when I was a child. I never knew my grand patents they were dead before I was even born. I've dedicated my adult life to my career, it's just me. Where's your family?"

"Caprica. They lived here till I was 15. I never thought of Caprica as home. When I got into the Colonial Fleet I bought this place. This was my first vacation in three years. I've put my life on hold for most of my adult life and it turns out it was for nothing."

"Where were you based?"

"The Battlestar Atlantia, the fleet's flag ship."

"Do you think they're still in the fight?"

"I have no idea, I hope so. I'm assuming that we've lost anyway."

"Can I ask you, what do you intend to do when we get to Caprica?"

"There are a couple of places I want to go. I'll try and get a dradis sweep as we jump into Caprica's atmosphere, see if I can locate any Battlestars."

"And if you can't?" she replied.

"After I've been where I want to go we'll get something with a bigger FTL drive and see where it takes us."

"But if you don't find any Battlestars where are we going to go?"

"I don't know but I'm not staying on any of the Colonies to die of radiation sickness or at the hands of the Cylons."

….

DAY 2

Skeeter sat by himself in the living room smoking a cigarette. On the table in front of him is a half finished cup of coffee and an ashtray full of cigarette butts. The rain was still pouring down outside. He'd been awake for a couple of hours. He's tried to see if there were any television channels still broadcasting but all he had got was snow on every channel, so instead he'd been watching the tiny dots on the horizon that he assumed were Cylon vessels. He was amazed at how confident he was feeling. To all extents and purposes it was the end of the world, billions of people had died and were dying, but he felt confident they would live. Archangel had a way of always making you feel confident, despite the odds. As he put his cigarette out Archangel walked in.

"Morning, sleep well?" Skeeter asked.

"Well I slept, what about you?" Archangel replied.

Archangel poured himself a cup of coffee from the pot Skeeter had made and sat down.

"I caught a few hours. I've been watching all the ships on the horizon." Skeeter said.

"Any overhead?"

"No and so far I haven't been able to identify any of them, I'm assuming they're all cylon."

"Good the longer we have without any ships overhead, the easier time we'll have."

"How much longer are we going to let them sleep?"

Archangel checked his watch, which read 7.15am

"We'll give them till 8am, be on the road by 8.30, 9am at the latest."

Some time later all four of them were making their final preparations to leave. Archangel picked up a gun and holster and held it out for Grace to take.

"I want you to take this." Archangel said.

"I've never even held a gun before. I don't think I'd be much use with it."

"You don't have to use it, it's for just in case and I'd feel a lot better knowing that at least everyone is armed."

Grace hesitated for a moment, she looked at Archangel, then at the weapon then back at him before taking the gun.

"Okay." She said.

"I'll show you how to use it along the way." Archangel said.

Archangel picked up a thick metal briefcase and a backpack full of personal items, they were all ready.

"Okay Danny ride with Skeeter, Grace with me. We know the rendezvous points for if we get split up and we fixed radios into both trucks this morning. Lets roll." Archangel said.

They walked through the kitchen and through the door which led to the adjoining garage. Inside both trucks waited facing the door. The backs of the trucks were covered over to hide their supplies from the elements. Archangel opened the door for the back seat of the truck and placed the metal case and the backpack on the back seat. There were already two fully loaded rifles, magazines fully loaded, bottles of water and other supplies there. He got into the drivers seat and started the engine. As Skeeter started up his truck the garage door opened and they both drove out. They headed down the dirt road and Archangel watched his house disappear into the rear view mirror. He had decided not to dwell on the twinge of sadness he felt and put all his concentration into the road ahead.

"You okay?" Grace asked.

Archangel nodded his head in reply.

"Yeah I'm fine. How does your ankle feel?" he replied.

"A lot better thank you."

As they pulled onto the main road Archangel led the way onto the road that would take them out of Freedom. The long road was flanked for at least sixty miles by mountain and forest. Archangel hoped this would give them some cover from any Cylon vessels that may pass overhead.

Skeeter was glad to be on the road. He reached for the sunroof and opened it slightly, a few spots of rain came through but not much. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a packet of smokes and lit one up. He turned and looked at Danny who was sitting staring out of the window.

"You okay Danny?"

Danny turned to face his friend.

"Yeah I'm fine you?"

"Yeah man I'm okay. I need to ask you a question and I need you to answer me honestly."

"Of course." Danny replied.

Skeeter took another drag from he cigarette before he asked.

"If you see a silver walking robot, what are you going to do?"

Danny looked at his friend and then down at his gun in its holster.

"Either shoot it or run, depending on what you guys are doing."

"We've got each others backs, all the time, even Grace."

"She seems nice."

Skeeter took another drag from his cigarette.

"Yeah she does."

They had been on the road for three hours and so far they hadn't seen a single soul. They were approaching the out skirts of a small town south of Capital City. Archangel saw a sign for a gas station up ahead. As they got closer he signalled and pulled in.

"Why are we stopping?" Grace asked.

"I want to see if there is any gas left in any of the pumps. I don't want to use up any of our own until we have to."

Both trucks stopped at the pumps. As the roof of the gas station covered the pumps they were sheltered from the rain so they all got out to stretch their legs.

"Skeeter can you activate the pumps?" Archangel asked.

"Sure, Danny fill her up." Skeeter replied.

"You got it." Danny said.

Skeeter walked into the shop and over to the counter where the pumps activated. It was eerie, the lights were off. After what they had seen at the market in Freedom he decided that he didn't want to look too far. He walked behind the counter and quickly found the pump control.

"Time to see if we still have power." Skeeter said to himself.

He pressed the controls to activate the pumps and they both kicked in. He looked up and saw Archangel give him the thumbs up. As he turned he saw the half full cigarette counter, he paused for a few seconds.

"What the hell. May as well." He said.

He grabbed a brown bag from the counter and filled it with smokes, after all there was a good chance that when he ran out he wouldn't be able to find any more. As he walked to the door he quickly glanced around the shop, a lot of people had been there before him, the place was a mess. There was one bottle of water laying on the floor about half way down the shop. Skeeter took a deep breath and then quickly walked down the isle to the bottle. As he bent down to pick it up he heard movement in the back of the shop but couldn't see anyone. He took the cigarettes and water and quickly walked back outside. Both Archangel and Danny had finished filling the trucks.

"Archangel there's someone in the back of the store." Skeeter said.

Skeeter put his things in the back of the truck.

"Who?" Archangel replied.

"No idea, heard them, didn't see them." Skeeter replied.

"Grace start my truck, Danny start Skeeter's. Skeeter, lets go see who's inside." Archangel said.

Grace and Danny didn't say anything they went the separate trucks but Archangel could tell by the looks on her face that she wasn't happy. Archangel drew one of his handguns and walked in the door, Skeeter drew his, took three quick breaths and followed his friend inside. Inside they both walked in silence, Archangel led the way holding his gun out in front. As they reached the door that led to the back of the shop they could both see how dimly lit it was. Skeeter reached into his pocket to get his torch, Archangel grabbed his friend's arm and shook his head. Whatever noise Skeeter had heard, it was now silent. Archangel cautiously stepped through the door, followed by his friend. The back of the shop was a mess like the front of the shop. There was a thump to their right and both men span around with their guns raised.

"What the frak was that?" Skeeter asked.

At first it didn't seem as though there was anything or anyone there. Archangel lowered his gun and pulled a torch out of his pocket and shone it into the corner.

"It's a bird." Archangel replied.

Skeeter was wired, his gun shaking slightly in his hand. He had expected a cylon and was very relieved that it was just a bird.

"Holy frak I nearly crapped myself." Skeeter said.

"It's broken its neck." Archangel said.

He raised his gun and fired putting the bird out of its misery. Archangel smiled at his friend who had holstered his weapon.

"Do you need to use the restroom and clean yourself up or can we go before we get attacked by another bird?"

Skeeter laughed in relief and then pointed at the door before following his friend outside.

"Is everything okay?" Danny asked nearly falling out of the truck when he saw his two friends.

"Yeah everything's fine, it was just a bird." Skeeter said.

"Lets get moving." Archangel said.

The two trucks pulled away as they got further and further away a man appeared from behind the gas station and watched them till they disappeared, then moved back behind the gas station.

As they drove on the road by the outskirts of the town they could began to see the damage from the explosions. Buildings were broken from the blasts, trees had been torn clear out of the ground and thrown everywhere. From their vehicles they could also see evidence of people who hadn't had time to get clear from the blasts.

"If it's like this here I wonder what it's going to be like in the cities." Grace asked.

"Well I'm hoping we won't have to get too close to the cities." Archangel replied.

"Is that a Cylon ship?" Grace asked.

Grace pointed through the windscreen. Archangel looked up and through the rain he saw a ship he had never seen before and had no idea if it had seen them.

"I assume so. I've never seen anything like it before. It's pretty high up so I doubt if they've seen us."

Skeeter's voice came over the radio.

"You seeing what I'm seeing?" Skeeter said over the radio.

Archangel picked up the receiver.

"Yeah just spotted it." Archangel replied.

"What do you want to do?" Skeeter asked.

"Right now nothing. If they'd seen us they'd be on us by now. We'll keep driving for now."

"No problem."

Archangel watched the raider for the next couple of minutes till it vanished out of sight.

"STOP, STOP, there's somebody over there!" Grace shouted.

Grace shouted and pointed to a man who was staggering a few hundred yards away. Archangel screeched to a halt, luckily Skeeter was paying attention and did the same thing. Archangel left the truck running and turned to Grace

"Please stay here and get ready to drive at the first sign of trouble." Archangel said.

Grace nodded her head in reply. Archangel got out of the truck and into the driving rain. Skeeter stepped out of his truck.

"What's going on?" Skeeter asked.

"Get the rifle I gave you and train it on me. If I grab my gun open fire on whatever I'm aiming at." Archangel replied.

Archangel began to walk towards the man who was staggering away from him. There were two story buildings either side of him which concerned him a little. As he got closer he could see the man was covered it blood. The rain was washing it off him a little and it was running down the road towards Archangel.

"Sir are you okay?" Archangel asked.

Archangel kept looking all around him, trying to see if he was being set up in any way. He slowly unclipped the tops of his holsters.

"Sir can you hear me? Are you okay?"

The man suddenly stopped which made Archangel stand still, his hands ready. The man began to slowly turn around. He was drenched in blood and holding his arm across his chest. He had clearly been shot in the shoulder and the leg. Archangel saw the relief across the mans face when he saw him standing there which made Archangel relax a little.

"Thank the gods." The man said.

As Archangel stepped towards the man the sound of machine gun fire ripped through the air and the bullets through the man standing in front of him. As the man fell to the floor dead Archangel heard another sound, this time of metal moving closer to him. He grabbed both his hand guns and span to his right in time to see two Cylon centurions running towards him.

"Oh frak me." Archangel said.

They moved so quickly, their red eyes slicing through the rain. Archangel had only ever seen pictures of Cylons and they hadn't looked like this. He had heard stories from Admiral Negala but they could in no way have prepared him for this moment. In a split second Archangel raised both guns and opened fire, he kept pulling the triggers. Each bullet hit its intended target with deadly accuracy and both Cylons went down after being hit by bullet after bullet. He stood for a moment, smoke poured out of the barrel of each gun. The two Cylons lay in a heap in front of him. Rain poured down his face as he stood and stared at his kill. As a blackop's agent he had trained to kill and he had killed humans before but this was something else entirely. He turned and ran towards the trucks as fast as he could. Skeeter had been watching his friend through the scope on his rifle, he hadn't however seen what Archangel had shot at as it had been down a side alley.

"What was it?" Skeeter asked.

"Cylons, we have to move, NOW." Archangel replied.

He holstered both of his weapons and got back into the truck.

They had found an abandoned warehouse well outside any populated areas. They had parked both trucks inside and checked the area for Cylons. Archangel, Skeeter and Danny were all fast asleep, Grace however wasn't with them.

Grace stood alone in the small building next to the warehouse. She looked into the night sky. The rain still poured down, it hadn't stopped all day and was showing no sign of doing so.

"Number 6." A voice said.

She turned around to see a 2 and an 8 walk out of the shadows.

"How is it going?" 8 asked.

"Very well, humans are far too trusting." Grace replied.

"They suspect nothing?" 2 asked.

Grace shook her head as she replied.

"As far as they are aware they've only seen two Cylons so far and Archangel stopped them without any problems."

"He certainly is an interesting human specimen. We have decided to let him live for now, we want to see how far he can get." 8 said.

"He plans on taking us to Caprica, if he doesn't scan any Battlestars in orbit he intends on jumping into space." Grace replied.

"To where?" 8 asked.

"Anywhere." Grace answered.

"His friends, if they survive for that long would they just blindly follow him?" 2 asked.

"They already are. All three of them know there are no guarantees they will even get off this planet yet they follow him anyway. He has a way of inspiring confidence."

"Even in you?" 2 asked.

"He is unlike any human we have studied, his records showed us this. I look forward with great interest as to how he overcomes the tests that face him. Are there many survivors out there?" Grace asked.

"A few thousand maybe spread across the colonies. Our armies killed a lot today. Several Battlestars survived. One at lest has massed a civilian fleet and fled the system, it is only a matter of time though before we find them." 8 said.

"Go back to them. We will talk again soon." 2 said.

"By your command." Grace replied.


	2. Frailty

DAY 6

The rain on Sagitarron had not stopped for days. Captain Mark "Archangel" Hunter lay in the undergrowth hidden from sight. As he looked through the scope on his rifle he could see his intended target 300ft away down the hill in front of him. The Cylons chase of the survivors had been relentless. Archangel had sent the others on ahead and set a trap for the pursuing centurions. The explosives he had placed on the fuel cans below should be enough to take out a whole garrison of troops. He was still remembering the day before when if it hadn't been for Skeeter he wouldn't be alive. Danny had frozen under fire when they had been ambushed by a group of centurions. Skeeter thankfully had been on top of this game and taken its head off with his shot gun.

After two hours he was still waiting but he knew they were coming, he'd left enough of a trail to lead them this way. Moments later his wait was over. He saw the silver shine of a centurion, seconds later eight of the 7ft monsters appeared.

"Come on you metal sons of bitches just a little closer," Archangel said under his breath. They may have been made to kill but they hadn't been made to sneak up on anyone. The metal slicing noises of their movement gave them away.

Through the scopes he saw the cylons hit the target. He pulled the trigger on his rifle and hit one of the petrol cans. The explosion was instant and as destructive as he had expected. Pieces of metal flew in all directions. Archangel smiled to himself. He'd show the cylons no matter how far they chased the group they wouldn't be beaten. He waited for a few moments before standing up and walking away.

Skeeter, Grace and Danny all sat in Skeeter's truck. They were waiting off the side of the road way waiting for Archangel.

"When do you think he'll be back?" Danny asked from the back of the truck.

"Gods damn it Danny for the 50th time I don't know. He'll let us know when he's on his way."

Skeeter was beginning to loose his patience with his friend. They had lived and worked together for a couple of years now but the last 4 days were beginning to take their toll. Nearly getting Archangel killed had been the last straw.

"I'm going to a smoke, Danny stay in the truck."

He opened the door and walked into the pouring rain. He walked over to some overhanging rocks and sat down and lit a cigarette. He instantly began to calm down. He felt bad shouting at his friend but he was getting very irritated. He looked up as Grace came and sat down next to him.

"Mind if I have one of those?" she asked.

Skeeter looked a little surprised, "sure, I didn't realise you smoked."

"Only when I get a little stressed, or I'm drinking." They both had a little laugh before she lit the cigarette.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, sorry for exploding back there, he just knows how to press my buttons. Normally I'd get some space before getting to that point but that's kind of difficult now."

"It can't have been easy for you taking care of him all this time."

"What kind of friend would I have been if I hadn't? His mother was his entire world and when she died he had nothing."

"Even so you're a good friend to him."

They sat in silence for a few seconds.

"I'll apologise to him a while and it'll all be fine."

"I wonder if Archangel is okay." Grace asked before taking another drag.

"He'll be fine. If anyone can get us to safety it's him."

"You have a lot of faith in him."

Skeeter let out a laugh, "He certainly does. We go way back and he's helped me in some of my darkest moments. I wouldn't be here no without him."

"Sounds serious."

"I'll tell you about it sometime. But I'd follow him into the bowels of hell if he said that's where he said to go."

The more time Grace spent with these people the more she liked them. The cylons had never expected to find a human like Archangel, a human who actually impressed them. Skeeter as well, despite herself she actually liked.

The silence was broken by Danny from the truck.

"Guys it's Archangel, he's on his way back."

Skeeter ran to the truck and picked up the radio.

"You okay buddy?"

"Yeah it's all good, there are bits of centurion scattering the countryside. I should be with you in a couple of minutes."

"I'll meet you by the side of the road."

Skeeter turned to his friend, "Danny, now he's on his way back!" He patted his friend on the shoulder and turned to pick up his shotgun from the back seat. "I'll be back in a minute, hold tight guys."

Skeeter walked back outside into the downpour. He made his way back down the hidden trail towards the road. They had chosen this position as they couldn't be seen from the road. As he reached it he stayed behind a tree so he could see the road but no one could see him. Moments later the sound of Archangel's truck could be heard. Skeeter stepped out towards the road and waved at his friend as he neared. He pulled up along side his friend and smiled.

"You kicked their asses then?"

"Blew them into a million pieces. Get in."

Skeeter sat in the truck before he drove down towards the others.

"The others okay?"

"Yeah, snapped at Danny earlier but we're good"

By night time the rain had stopped for the first time in 5 days. The group sat round a small fire eating some food.

"So where do we go next?" Grace asked.

"We're going to reach the first landing strip tomorrow. If we're lucky there will be a Raptor there and we'll be off this planet by the end of the day."

"Do you think there will be anyone at the strip?" Skeeter asked.

"I don't know. I'm assuming before the attack there will have been people stationed there, whether or not they're still there is another matter."

"Are these the people we need to be careful of?" Danny asked.

"If there's anyone there they'll be military so we should be fine. We can always use more people who know how to fight. Right now I suggest we rest up, it's going to be a long day tomorrow, whatever happens."

DAY 7

Grace awoke after what had been a reasonably good night's sleep. She looked over at Archangel who was still sound asleep not far away from her. It was the first time she'd seen him sleep in a couple of days. She wondered how someone who looked so peaceful was capable of the amount of carnage and destruction he had displayed so far in such a short space of time. Suddenly the smell of freshly brewed coffee hit her. She turned to see Skeeter sat, with a cup of coffee in one hand and a cigarette in the other. He smiled at her and took a sip from his cup. She walked over to him and sat down, he poured another cup and handed it to her.

"Notice anything different?" he said as he handed it to her.

She then realised what he was talking about, the rain, it had stopped. The sun was trying to shine through the thick radiation clouds giving the light a strange orange glow.

"Finally I was getting sick of being wet all the time," she replied taking a sip from her drink. The coffee was amazing, unlike anything she had tasted before. Being with humans she was experiencing new things everyday. Some unpleasant but others, like this simple drink was very pleasant indeed.

"Wow this coffee is amazing."

"Well if there's one thing I know it's good coffee and this is good coffee. It's from Virgon and it's the best you can get. I found a couple of cans of it when we went to the market back in Freedom. If the worlds coming to an end there are two things I'm not depriving myself of, cigarettes and good coffee."

Grace smiled and took another sip. It seemed to her that it was the simple things in life that Skeeter enjoyed the most and things like Virgon coffee were starting to become some of her favourites.

Minutes later Archangel and Danny had both woken up and they were all preparing for the day ahead. Skeeter had made them all something to eat and they were all enjoying the peaceful morning.

"Well this is a morning of firsts. Not only are we not being rained on there are no centurions shooting at us." Skeeter said.

"Enjoy these moments while they last." Archangel said.

"So where are you taking us on Caprica?" Grace asked.

"Not to sure yet. I was thinking somewhere near Delphi but not too close, it's a major city but it'll be crawling with toasters. But if there are survivors or if there is anyone out there looking for survivors we need to be near a city."

"Doesn't that apply to Sagittaron too? Shouldn't we be near a major city?" Grace asked.

"We're on the ass end of the colonies as far as most people are consirned. Caprica, Tauron, Picon and Virgon are the ones where anyone will look for survivors first."

"And sorry to confront the elephant in the room but what if we can't find anyway off planet?" Skeeter asked.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Archangel replied.

A couple of hours later both trucks were back on the road. Grace sat quietly in the front of Archangel's truck looking out of the window. This was the last place she had expected to be when the attack happened. She thought she would be on her base ship watching everything unfold from there, it would seem however, fate, god or whatever you wanted to call it had a different plan for her.

"You okay?" Archangel asked.

She nodded her head in reply, "Yeah trying not to think depressing thoughts."

"I can understand that." He replied.

"Can I ask you a personal question?"

"Sure."

"You're not just a pilot are you?"

"What makes you say that?"

"Little things you've said over the last few days. I know a couple of people who are pilots in the military and none of them seem to be trained like you or have the knowledge that you have."

"Well truthfully I am a pilot, I'm the CAG of the Atlantia, all that's true."

"I don't doubt that at all."

"But the truth is no I'm not just a pilot. I do or I did some black op's missions for the admiralty."

"Like secret agent stuff?" she asked with a smile on her face.

"No like an assassin, nothing as glamorous as the movies."

"You're an assassin?"

"I was. I was sent after the worst of the worst. The kinds of people who were planning on things like this."

"I wouldn't have thought there were people who would be capable of something like this."

"I wish that were true. We're nearly there."

Archangel picked up the radio.

"Skeeter you hear me?"

"Loud and clear, all good up there?" came the reply.

"Yeah we're about a mile away from the base. I want to pull off the road up ahead and hide the trucks. We'll go on foot and scope out the lay of the land. If it's all good we'll bring the trucks up and load up the Raptor. If not we just keep going."

"No problem."

Archangel pulled off the road into the bushes and stopped the truck.

"Ready for a little walk?" Archangel asked.

Grace nodded in reply.

As they both got out of the truck Skeeter and Danny pulled up along side.

"Okay lets take some weapons and a few supplies. We'll get the rest in a little bit."

As the four survivors reached the airbase it looked deserted. There were three large hangers, a control tower and a large building that made up the base.

"Okay guys I want you to keep your eyes peeled. Danny go check the hanger over there, Skeeter take the other one."

They all walked over to the large hangers. Danny reached his first. The main doors were locked shut. He saw a small door along side and walked over to it. The door was shut by a large padlock. He looked up to see the others arriving at the other two hangers. He stopped himself from calling out what to do but stopped himself, he could find a way in himself.

Archangel tried the hanger door but it was locked.

"There's another door here but it's locked as well." Grace said.

Archangel walked over and examined the lock. When he turned to look at the key hole his eyes widened.

"Oh my gods."

He turned to see Danny about to hit the lock with the butt of his gun.

"DANNY STOP!"

He was too late as soon as the butt of the sidearm hit the lock there was a pop followed by the explosion of his hand gun. As they all ran towards him he screamed in agony.

Danny looked down to see most of his hand was gone. Only his thumb survived and blood was gushing everywhere. He looked up to see his friends reach him.

"We have to stop the bleeding." Grace said.

Archangel looked down at the wound and could only think of one way to stop it. He picked up his rifle and fired off a number of rounds. He took the hot barrel and began to cauterise the wound as best he could. Danny's screaming stopped as he passed out from the pain. Moments later the bleeding had stopped. Archangel stood up with both his sidearms raised. Skeeter and Grace turned to see four men with rifles pointed at them and raised their weapons as well.

"This is a military base and you are trespassing. Lower your weapons and leave now or we will kill you," one of the men shouted.

"My name is Captain Mark Hunter and I'm the CAG of the Battlestar Atlantia and I order you to lower yours first." Archangel replied.

"This is your last warning before we kill you." The man replied.

"Lower your weapons, he's telling the truth."

Another marine appeared, "That's an order!"

The marines lowered their weapons as did Archangel and the others.

"We have a wounded man here he needs help." Skeeter said.

"Harris, Welch take that man to the infirmary and see what you can do for him."

"Yes sir." Harris replied.

He walked over to Archangel and saluted. "Corporal Darius Vannick. I was on the Atlantia when you first came aboard sir."

Archangel saluted back "Good to see you Corporal, you in charge round here?"

Vannick paused for a moment "No sir that would be Sergeant Hackerson."

"Can you take me to see him?"

"Of course sir. Jarvis, Meech take these two to the mess and get them something to eat."

Grace looked at Archangel looking slightly concerned.

"It's okay, I'll see you in a minute."

Vannick lead Archangel into the building to meet Hackerson.

"Have you seen much from the Cylons sir?" Vannick asked.

"Yeah a little too much. Have you guys?"

"No sir, they haven't found us yet. Here we are." He said gesturing to the door.

"I'm glad you're here sir." He said before knocking on the door.

"Come in." a mans voice said from inside.

The door opened to a small but well maintained office. Sergeant George Hackerson looked to be in his late 40's. His bald head, facial scars and sheer size made him intimidating, intimidating to everyone but Archangel.

"Sir this is Captain Mark Hunter, they've just arrived."

"Thank you Corporal you can leave now."

"Yes sir."

He looked at the young Captain for a few moments before gesturing to the chair facing him.

"Please Captain sit. Can I get you a drink?"

"Please. Corporal Vannick tells me you've had no Cylon contact."

Hackerson handed him a glass of whiskey.

"No we haven't we're a little out of the way and not on the map. I think we're fine here. So what brings you to our base?"

"We're looking for a Raptor."

"And where do you intend to go if you find one?"

Archangel had taken an immediate dislike to the Sergeant, "Caprica."

"And why would you go there, they'll have been attacked the same as us, if not worse."

"Because if any Battlestar's have survived they'll be looking for people on the more populated planets. So are there any Raptor's here?"

Hackerson paused for a few seconds, a smirk crossed his face before he replied. "Yes there is one."

"Excellent."

"But it won't fly. It's been too badly damaged."

"Frak. We'll have to move on then."

"To where exactly?"

"Another air base. You're men of course can come with us."

Hackerson let out a laugh, "No they'll be staying here."

Archangel finished his drink and stood up, "Well that will be up to them. Sergeant."

"Of course. Sir."

"If you don't mind we'll spend the night here before we move on."

"Of course, Sir".

As Archangel left the room Hackerson smashed the glass with his grip. Who did this punk pilot think he was interfering with his command.

Skeeter sat in the back of the Raptor with his head in his hands. Everything in the cabin was destroyed past fixing. He turned to Grace who was sat on the wing.

"There's no way I could even begin to fix all this. Even if I could half of these systems I have no idea what they do."

Archangel walked into the hanger and smiled at Grace.

"You guys okay?" he asked.

She shook her head. Skeeter popped his head out from inside.

"Man this ship looks like someone took an axe to it. I was just saying to Grace there is no way I can fix this."

"Sergeant Hackerson told me it was too badly damaged."

Archangel took a quick look inside.

"Frak me what did they do to this."

"So what's this Hackerson like?" Grace asked.

"I don't like or trust him, there's been something going on here. We'll sleep here tonight and then get back on the road in the morning."

"How far to the next air base?" Skeeter asked.

"About 300 clicks north."

"Oh man can we even make it that far?" Skeeter asked.

"We have no choice." Grace replied.

"Okay lets go see Danny, there's no point wasting anymore time here."

Private Jessica Welsh finished bandaging Danny's wound and stood looking at the unconscious man. Thoughts drifted through her head of putting him out of his misery. She wished she'd died in the initial blasts. She hated the military and just wanted to end everything most days. The newcomers were not welcome here. They would destroy what little harmony the small unit had left. But her C/O needed her and she wasn't going to let Hackerson down. If the newcomers rocked the boat too much while they were here she new what Hackerson would have his marines do. After the events of the past few days it wouldn't surprise her. Vannick was already getting too close to finding out what had happened and she already new Hackerson didn't like him. She looked up as Archangel, Skeeter and Grace walked in and forced a smile towards them.

"How is he?" Skeeter asked.

"He'll be okay. I gave him something to knock him out for a while. The pain from that wound is going to be horrible for him for a while to come."

"Thank you Private." Archangel said.

"You're welcome sir, I'll come back to check on him later." With that the young woman walked out of the room.

"I can't believe this has happened. He's not going to take it well when he comes round." Skeeter said.

"He'll be okay. He has to be." Archangel replied. He turned and closed the door behind him and spoke in a quieter tone, "We have to be very careful here. Watch each others backs. I'm going to have a word with Vannick."

"Why do you think you can trust him?" Grace asked.

"I don't. Worse case scenario we have to fight our way out of here, either with him on our side or not. Something he said to me earlier made me think something has been going on."

"What did he say?" Skeeter asked.

"Just that he was glad I was here."

"Frak me man and cos of that you're gonna trust him?" Skeeter asked.

"I have to agree. If you say the wrong thing to him it could get back to Hackerson and then we could be screwed." Grace added.

"I'll sound him out, ask him what's been going on and see how he replies before I say anything I shouldn't. I won't do anything that puts you guys in danger."

Skeeter sniggered, "You mean anymore danger than we've already been in?"

"You know what I mean. I'll be back soon."

Corporal Vannick sat alone in the watch tower. More and more over the last week he had been given solo duties, more and more he was being shut out of the things that went on around the base. He was relieved Captain Hunter had arrived, someone who could take over from Hackerson. Hackerson had been loosing his grip for a while now. He had been posted to the base as a last ditch attempt by his superiors to try and calm him down. Vannick didn't know the specifics but he knew the Sergeant had been involved in things the military hadn't been too happy about. He wanted off the base and if the opportunity came to leave with the new comers he would take it. He was suddenly aware of noise coming from the ladder hatch behind him. He span around with his rifle raised but relaxed when he saw Archangel come through the hatch.

"Sorry to startle you." Archangel said.

"It's okay. You lost sir?"

"No I actually wanted to talk to you if that's okay?"

"Sure pull up a seat."

Archangel sat down next to the marine.

"What's been going on here since the attack happened?" he asked.

Vannick took a deep breath. "Nothing, that I know of. We received some reports when it first began but they dried up pretty quickly. Hackerson ordered us to stay on the base and keep to our duties. We started taking radiation meds straight away. After three days some of the guys wanted to leave to see if they could find any survivors. Hackerson went mad when he found out and ordered them to stay put. They decided they were going anyway. That's the last time I saw them."

"Did they leave?"

"Truthfully I don't know, he says they did."

"And you don't believe him?"

"Hackerson was given this job to keep him out the way of other people. Honestly I wouldn't put anything past him, anything at all."

"That explained his reaction when I said when we leave you can all come with us if you want."

Vannick paused for a few moment. "I'm the second in command of this unit and I'm being treated like some rookie. When you go I'd like to come with you."

"Of course. What about the others?"

"Some of them came from his old unit, they all seem fiercely loyal to him. You can ask them but I don't think they'll come."

"Okay here's what I want you to do, gather together as many supplies as you can, food, water and medication, without drawing any attention to yourself. When we go we're going to go quickly, okay?"

"Understood."

Grace and Skeeter sat with Danny waiting for Archangel. They had been sitting in silence for some time now. Grace was beginning to get a little unnerved. She didn't like the way some of these humans were looking at her. She was also getting concerned for the humans she was with. For some reason he gave her a bad feeling and she worried for all their safety. Moments later Archangel walked in.

"You guys okay?" he asked.

"Yeah we're good. How does it lay with the Corporal?" Skeeter asked.

"He's with us. He says that he doesn't think the others will come with us. I told him to be ready to move quickly. Skeeter when we leave I need you to get here to Danny as quickly as you can."

"No problem." He replied.

"What do we do till then?" Grace asked.

"We get some rest. They've given us two rooms. Grace if you want it you can take the single Skeeter and I will take the twin."

"Honestly I'd rather not be alone here. I don't like the looks some of the men here are giving me." She replied.

"Of course. Take the two bed with Skeeter, I'll probably not get much sleep anyway and I wouldn't want to wake you."

Hackerson sat in his office smoking a cigar. His mind was made up, in the morning he would deal with the visitors. There was a knock on the office door.

"Come." Hackerson said.

Lance Corporal Dane Harris walked in, "You wanted to see me sir?"

"Yes Corporal. Our new guests, do you know where they are?"

"Yes sir, they've retired to the quarters we set aside for them."

"Good we will let them rest tonight. In the morning I want you and the men to take them into custody. Put the pilot into the interrogation room and the other two in a cell."

"Yes sir, what about the one in the infirmary?"

"Leave him, for now. He's sedated so he shouldn't be any trouble. When the time comes, we will, ease his pain."

"Yes sir."

Archangel lay on the bed in his quarters. One of his sidearms sat on the desk next to him, safety off, ready. Sleep, tonight wasn't forthcoming. He thought about the Atlantia. The men and women he had served with for so many years and began to face the thought they were probably all dead now. As he began to slowly drift off he snapped back awake by a quiet knocking on the door. He immediately picked up the gun and walked over to the door. He slowly opened the door and relaxed when he saw Grace standing outside.

"I'm sorry did I wake you?" she asked.

"No come in, is everything okay?"

"Yes I couldn't sleep."

They both walked over to the bed and sat down.

"I can't wait to get back on the road." Grace said.

"Me too. So tell me about your life on Leonis."

"There's not much to tell. No family to speak of. A couple of close friends and some acquaintances. I lead quite a boring life the more I think of it. I work most days, business is good. People have bad teeth, I make lots of cubits. Then the cylons come back and I realise that the only thing I have to fight for is my life."

"That's the most important thing you could ever fight for."

"So what's it like to be the CAG of the Battlestar Atlantia and an assassin for the military?"

"Truthfully it was exciting. The rush of being in a Viper cockpit is unlike anything I've ever experienced in my life. Doing Black Op's for the military, well the shine went off that around the first time I pulled the trigger."

"Have you killed many people?"

Archangel didn't reply straight away.

"Sorry I shouldn't have asked that."

"No it's okay. I've killed a few, each one worse than the last. Murderers, terrorists, evil men and women who had done evil things."

"So is there anyone in your life?"

"Family, friends the usual."

"A woman?"

Archangel let out a laugh. "No for the last three years I've done one thing, work my ass off till my C/O made me the CAG. Lived, breathed and slept for the military. I've barely seen my family."

"Good then I can do this."

Grace leaned over and kissed Archangel.

DAY 8

Skeeter yawned loudly as he awoke the next morning. As he stretched he momentarily forgot where he was. As his eyes became accustomed to the room he looked over and saw Grace's bed was empty.

"Frak." He said to himself. He quickly got out of bed and dressed. He picked up his shotgun and headed for the door. As the door opened everything went black. Private James Meech stood over him holding the rifle he had knocked Skeeter out with. He looked over to Harris and Welch who were preparing to enter the other room.

Archangel awoke to see Grace getting dressed.

"Good morning." He said with a smile.

"Hey." She leaned down and gave him a kiss. "You ready to get us out of here and get us off world?"

"Sure am."

They both dressed in silence but smiling at each other. The night before had been the best of his life and the most unexpected. As he reached for his holsters the door broke open and the two marines stormed in with rifles raised. Archangel's instinct was to go for his weapons but he ignored them, he knew any attempt to get them would end badly.

"Don't even think about it," Harris said, "I will blow your brains all over the wall."

"What the Frak do you think you're doing Corporal?" he snapped.

"Exactly what the Sergeant ordered. SIR."

Hackerson stood outside the interrogation room. Welch came out of the room to meet him.

"Is he still alive?

"Yes sir per your orders. The other two are in a cell." She replied.

"Good."

He walked into the room to see the Captain tied to a chair, bloody and beaten. Harris stopped the brutal beating as he saw his C/O walk in and stood to attention.

"Sir."

"Good work Corporal."

Archangel spat out a huge mouthful of blood onto the floor and looked up at Hackerson with a grin. He wasn't going to give any of them the satisfaction of seeing him in pain.

"What no breakfast in bed?" he said.

Hackerson let out a laugh. "No I'm afraid the kitchen's closed this morning."

"Pity. So what's the plan Sergeant?"

Hackerson walked over to him and grabbed the back of his head.

"The plan is to get rid of arrogant little pukes like you. You come here and destroy the harmony of this unit. Well I won't let that happen?"

"Harmony, that's almost funny. You guys aren't soldiers any more you're just a group of armed thugs who aren't worthy of the uniform or the oxygen you suck down."

That was the final straw for the Sergeant he backhanded pilot as hard as he could. Archangel felt one of his back teeth break under the pressure and his mouth once again filled with blood. He took the opportunity to play possum and pretended to be out cold. The pain coursing through his body grew by the second but it had to be ignored. He had been trained to deal with pain like this and how to ignore it.

"What do you want us to do with him sir?" Harris asked.

"Get him and his friends ready for execution bring the woman to my office and kill Vannick."

"Yes sir." Harris replied.

Grace and Vannick sat cuffed in a small dark cell.

"Do you think he'll be okay?" Grace asked.

"Sure he will, any minute now that door will fling open and he'll be standing there."

As he finished speaking the door began to open. Skeeter and Grace looked at each other in total surprise but hope faded when they saw. Private Jarvis stood there with his side arm raised.

"You come with me." He said pointing to Grace.

"No leave her alone and take me." Skeeter said standing up. Jarvis hit him square in the nose. The pain was instant as he felt the bone break. He fell back onto the ground.

"You get up again and I'll kill you." Jarvis said as he pulled Grace to her feet.

Before Skeeter could even think about getting back up the door was closed and locked.

Welch and Harris stood in front of the apparently unconscious Archangel.

"Let's just get this over with." Welch said.

"Over with, you have to be kidding me I wanna make this last as long as possible. Hackerson better let me pull the trigger on this guy."

They moved behind him and unfastened the cuffs round his wrists. Both marines picked him up and put his arms around their necks and dragged him up from the chair. Archangel prepared himself once he was on his feet he used all his strength to smash both their heads together. Both marines fell to the floor with a thud. Archangel steadied himself and spat out another mouthful of blood, this time all over Harris. Welch began to stir, Archangel walked over to her, she looked up at him with fear in her eyes.

"I'm sorry." Archangel said as he reached down and broke her neck killing her instantly.

Harris staggered to his feet with a knife in his hand. He swayed from side to side slightly.

"You're a dead man."

He lunged towards Archangel with the knife. Archangel grabbed his wrist with one hand and with the other one pushed Harris' elbow upwards making a sickening crunching noise. Harris screamed in pain. Archangel took the knife and plunged it straight into Harris' throat. The screaming was replaced by gurgling as Archangel ripped the knife back out. Harris dropped to his knees clutching at his throat. Archangel watched as the life slipped away from the marine. Moments later he slumped to the floor dead.

Archangel took a deep breath and walked out of the room. Outside he saw all their gear on a table. He searches through the gear and takes out his anti radiation meds and quickly injects them into his neck. He takes a deep breath and steadies himself. He walks over to the closed cell across from him.

"Skeeter you in there?" he asked.

"I'm here are you okay?" came the reply.

"Yeah I'll get you out of there in a minute. I'll be right back."

Archangel walks back into the interrogation room and searches the guards for keys. He quickly found them and heads back to the door. He opens the door and sees Skeeters face drop when he sees him.

"My gods what did they do to you?" he asked.

"I'm fine it looks worse that it is, we have to move quickly."

"They took Grace a few minutes ago I don't know where they took her."

"I do Hackerson told them to take her into his office. Listen you have to go and get Danny. If you see Vannick tell him we're leaving, now."

"How do we know we can trust him?"

"Because Hackerson told Harris to kill him. Listen if you come across any of the marines you have to shoot first."

"There are four of them though."

"Not any more only two, one of them is heading to Danny and the other taking Grace to Hackerson."

"Did you kill them?"

"Take your gear and get moving."

As Skeeter picked up his gear he saw through the two marines bodies through the door. It looked brutal. He decided not to say anything and just get on with the job in hand.

"Just don't think about it, if you see a marine just point and shoot, it's us or them."

"Don't worry about me, I can do this."

Hackerson sat at his desk smoking a cigar and looking at Grace who sat opposite him.

"What are you going to do to us?" she asked.

"Execute you all." He replied.

"Billions of people are dead and you're going to kill some of the last remaining people. With people like you I'm surprised who needs the Cylons."

"The Cylons, we haven't even seen any Cylons yet. I'm starting to wonder if they even exist. You people are damaging my units morale and there's only one way to stop that, remove the cause of the damage."

Skeeter walked as quietly as he could down the corridor with his shotgun gripped tightly in his hands. He actually found himself terrified. The strange thing about it was this was the first time since they saw the first nuclear clouds that he had. Fighting the Cylons had been kind of exciting, a rush he'd never experienced before and he kind of enjoyed it. As he reached the end of the corridor he stopped and peered around the corner, he quickly moved back when he saw one of the marines walking towards the door of the infirmary. He swapped his shotgun for his sidearm, as he wasn't close enough to use it. He took several quick breaths and then walked out of his hiding place with the gun raised in front of him.

"1… 2… 3…" he whispered to himself before pulling the trigger.

The bullet hit its target. The marine died instantly from the gun shot wound to the back of his head.

Vannick who had been sitting with Danny grabbed his rifle at the sound of the gunshot and saw Meech fall to the floor dead. Seconds later he saw Skeeter appear by the door.

"What the frak did you do?" Vannick yelled.

Skeeter kept his gun at his side, "Hackerson had sent him to kill you and Danny, and I couldn't let him."

"What are you talking about?"

"The fact that your C/O is fraking nuts. He's just had the shit beat out of Archangel and has taken Grace somewhere. He was going to kill you, I just saved your life."

The fact was that Vannick wasn't even surprised by this. He lowered his weapon. Skeeter walked to his friend.

"I need him up, we have to leave now." Skeeter said.

He shook Danny who groggily began to stir.

"Danny I need you to wake up, we have to leave now."

As Danny came too he looked down and saw the dressing around what was left of his hand.

"Oh gods what happened?" he said beginning to cry.

"Danny look at me, we have to go, people are trying to kill us," he looked across at Vannick, "Help me get him up."

Hackerson backhanded Grace across the face. Grace had reached her limit, she summoned up all her strength and broke the cuffs around her wrists and grabbed Hackerson's windpipe so he couldn't make a sound. The mixture of shock and pain came across the Sergeants face.

"People like you are the reason we came back to the colonies. The human pestilence had to be wiped from the galaxy once and for all. However due to your lack of humanity you have almost ruined an experiment we are running. The only human worthy of surviving will not be put to death by an oxygen thief such as you. You have fumbled your way into what will now be your execution. I am a Cylon and I have relayed the coordinates of this base to the others who are coming here right now. I think I'll leave you for them."

As she let go of him she took his sidearm out of his holster and hit him as hard as she could, knocking him out cold.

Archangel had spotted the marine outside Hackerson's office. He drew both his sidearms out and quickly moved out from his hiding place. Every bullet hit its intended target, killing the marine straight away.

Grace heard the gunfire out side the office and knew Archangel would be breaking down the door any second. She looked down on the unconscious body in front of her and fired a round hitting him in the leg.

Archangel heard the shot from inside the office and suddenly for the first time in as long as he could remember he felt fear, fear that Grace was dead. He kicked the door breaking it open and was immediately relieved to see Grace standing there, gun in her hand.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

She nodded in reply, a tear running down her cheek.

"He tried to kill me, we fought and I managed to get his gun, I think I've killed him."

"Good, you've done good."

He walked over to her and kissed her.

"You're okay now."

"What did they do to you?" she asked seeing all the blood, cuts and bruises on his face.

"I'm okay, we have to go."

She nodded her head again and they both left.

The main doors to the base flung open and Skeeter and Vannick walked out with Danny propped up between them.

"Where the frak are they?" Vannick asked.

"They'll be here." Skeeter replied.

"What's going on? Skeeter who is he?"

"This is Vannick he's coming with us, I'll tell you the rest later," Skeeter took a deep breath, "Okay I'm gonna go find them."

As he turned to head back inside Archangel and Grace appeared at the door.

"Did you find the other marine?" Archangel asked.

"Yeah I delt with it." Skeeter replied.

"What about Hackerson and Jarvis." Vannick asked.

"Not gonna be a problem. Come on we have to get going."

"Where are we heading?" Vannick asked.

"We have two trucks about a mile down the road."

Hackerson coughed as he began to come round. As he tried to stand he realised the cylon bitch had shot him in the leg. He pulled himself up onto his chair and took several deep swigs from his whiskey bottle. He opened his desk and pulled out a loaded revolver. He wasn't going to let them get out of here alive and managed to get to his feet and stagger out of the room.

As he reached the main doors he steadied himself before moving out. He turned to be faced by 6 centurions and three copies of number 6.

"She told you we were coming." One of the 6's said.

"Frak you." He said raising the gun in his hand. Before he could even get a shot off the centurions opened fire.

Grace lay awake. She turned to see Vannick, Skeeter and Danny all asleep but there was no Archangel. She stood up and began to walk. She headed up towards the cliff face up above. As she passed a group of small caves a number 3 stepped out in front of her.

"We need to talk." The 3 whispered turning to walk into a cave. Grace followed.

"This is dangerous Archangel isn't asleep." Grace said.

"He's sitting up on the cliffs, we're okay for now. We have a new mission for you. We want you to kill one of his friends."

"What?"

"We want to see how he copes with the death of one of his friends. He's been impressive so far, we want to see exactly how much he can cope with."

"Which one?"

"That would be up to you, either Skeeter or Danny, you choose."

Grace couldn't believe what she was being asked, she had not expected this.

"And we need you to choose now."

"Danny." She said without another thought. Archangel would need Skeeter if he was to survive and she wanted him to survive. Danny was too much of a liability.

"Good."

"When do you want me to do this?"

"You'll know when. We'll split the group and it will just be you and Danny."

Grace turned to walk away.

"We're very pleased with you so far, you've done well."

"Thank you." She said as she left.

Archangel sat looking up at the stars. The pain killers he had taken had kicked in and he didn't feel as bad now. He turned when he heard movement behind him and saw Grace walking up to him. She sat down next to him.

"Couldn't sleep?" she asked.

"I was about to ask you the same thing. No I don't tend to sleep that much these days."

"After todays adventure I can't sleep. My mind is too active."

They both sat quietly for a few moments.

"You know I think I'm going to have to find a dentist, you don't know any you can recommend do you?" he said with a smile.

"I think I can find someone."

"That's good, just don't tell them I'm scared of them."

"You're scared of dentists?" she said sounding surprised.

"Childhood trauma."

"Well I'm sure she'll be gentle." She said leaning over and kissing him.


	3. Collateral Damage

DAY 15

Archangel sat behind the burned out wreck of a car. He was trying to control his breathing. He knew coming to a town would be a bad idea and he had been right. But the need to drink fresh water was a greater need. Gun fire exploded from behind him. He looked to his left and saw Skeeter on the other side of the road behind another car firing at the five Centurions who had found them. He took a deep breath and then turned around and opened fire taking down one of the Cylons with his first volley of shots.

Skeeter took the opportunity to move a little further down the street under Archangel's covering fire. He stopped in the cover of a shop door way, turned and fired. There were now only three of the bullet heads left now. They had started to advance towards his friend. Skeeter aimed at the one closest to Archangel and took it down. He had taken his attention away from the other two and only just noticed one of them was advancing towards him, quickly. He emptied the remaining of his magazine into the advancing Cylon.

At the same time Skeeter ran out of ammo so did Archangel, the one remaining Cylon began to advance towards Archangel. He reached for a new magazine but knew he didn't have time to reload. He grabbed a grenade from his belt and threw it and dived for cover. Just as he hit the deck the Cylon exploded. Skeeter protected by the wall of the shop dived on the ground as he heard the explosion. He peeked out a few moments later to see while the Centurion was in pieces it was still moving with its one remaining arm towards Archangel.

Archangel could hear the malfunctioning Cylon still moving. He stood up and took one of his sidearms from its holster. He looked over to see his friend was okay before walking towards the robot. It looked up at him and tried to grab him. Archangel emptied the hand gun's magazine into the robot making sure it was destroyed. As he ejected the magazine and reloaded it he turned to his friend.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, you?"

"Still in one piece. Well that was fun!" he said with a smile.

Skeeter gave out a little laugh, "That's one way of putting it. We heading back to the others now?"

"I think that would be best. No telling if they'll send more to find out what happened to these ones and I think we've had enough fire fights for one day."

He picked up his rifle and reloaded that as they both walked off down the street.

"Looks like we're not the first to put up a fight here." Skeeter said as they walked down what must have once been a nice welcoming town main street.

"Hope someone managed to survive." Archangel said.

"We haven't seen anyone else for a week, we can't be the only ones left."

"As long as we don't run in to anyone else like Hackerson I hope were not the only ones left."

"That seems like a lifetime ago now. So much has been happening."

"Well we have about 100 more miles to go to the next airbase, there has to be something more than bodies and burned out cars between here and there."

"100 miles is going to take a long time on foot."

"I know hopefully we'll be able to find some new transport soon."

Three days ago they had had to abandon their trucks. The road they had to go on had been destroyed by a Cylon bomb. The group had taken the things they could carry and begun the long trek by foot.

"I do think we should find somewhere and hold up for a few days so we can all get rested up. Some of the way we have to go is going to be up hill, some of it even mountainous."

"Do you think we'll be safe stopping for so long?"

"Yeah there is a military and governmental bunker up ahead, we'll be safe enough there."

Vannick sat with the others waiting for Archangel and Skeeters return. He had spent the time checking their ammunition and things weren't looking good.

"Judging by the expression on your face things aren't good?" Grace asked.

"If the Cylons keep attacking us at the rate they have been, we'll be throwing rocks in two days. We have to find somewhere we can re-load."

Danny was sat listening to the conversation but did not join in. He had been doing more listening since the air field. He felt helpless, even before his accident now he was more of a liability than he was before. He had decided that he would just carry as much as he could and do whatever he was told. It was better that way. Archangel had been spending more time with Grace recently and had less time for him. Skeeter still had time for him but he seemed to have become good friends with Vannick which was making him feel more and more out of place.

"We're back." Archangel said as they walked back into camp.

"Any joy?" Grace asked.

"Eight bottles, better than nothing." Archangel replied.

"We got into one hell of a fire fight with some toasters. They found us as we were leaving." Skeeter said.

"Well then you're not going to like what I have to tell you." Vannick said.

"What?" Archangel asked.

"I did an inventory on our ammo situation and it's not good." He replied.

"How bad?" Archangel asked.

"Eight rifle magazines each, twelve hand gun clips and seven grenades."

"Frak me that's not good." Skeeter replied.

"We've still got a few magazines left on us, but not much." Archangel said.

"I've got about 30 shotgun rounds left." Skeeter said.

"Well I've got something that might help a little bit but we're still going to have to go find more ammo." Archangel said.

He walked over to his things and took out a large silver case.

"I don't know why I didn't break these out in the first place."

He opened the case to reveal more weapons. "Okay I've got two grenade launchers and three grenades to go with them. Take the rifle magazines you were going to give me and split them between the rest of you. I was saving this for if we came up against anything bullet proof."

He took out a large machine gun which had been custom made for him.

"I've got six magazines for this full of armour piecercing rounds, I'll use this from now on."

"So do we go back into the town tomorrow?" Grace asked.

"We can't risk it, by the time the Cylons figure out their centurions have gone missing they'll send out more to find out where they went. There's a larger town about 10 miles north of here we'll have to see what we can find there. I was telling Skeeter that I want us all to get a few days rest as the terrain from here is going to get much harder to cross. There's a bunker up about three days ahead of us we'll be able to get some rest in safety there."

DAY 16

The group waited on the outskirts of the next town. They all lay on a bank out of sight. Archangel was looking through his binoculars to see if he could see any Cylons.

"Are we good to go?" Danny asked.

"I can't see anything, we should be okay." Archangel said as he began to stand up. Vannick grabbed him and pulled him back down.

"No body move." He said. A large group of centurions appeared at the top of the street they were no more than 50ft away from. Following them was a large convoy of vehicles moving down the road. There were dozens of Centurions flanking either side of the large vehicles. Vannick nudged Archangel and pointed. They couldn't believe it, there were two men walking with them. One tall with light brown hair and another shorter and a lot older, not only that but there were at least six men identical to those two. No one could believe their eyes.

"What the frak?" Archangel whispered.

The massive convoy moved quite slowly and none of them dare make a sound in case they were heard. Archangel took hold of his rifle, just in case. As the men passed they could hear them talking.

"Is there any sign of them?" the number 2 asked.

"No there has been no trace of them since yesterday. They can't be very far away. I'm hoping this isn't a mistake." The number 1 replied.

"We all decided, yes the plan was to eradicate all the humans but this was an experiment we had to see what would happen. Remember this can be stopped at any time."

They all looked at each other. Minutes later the last vehicle and centurion had passed.

"Human cylons. Human fraking cylons, no wonder they wiped us out." Skeeter said.

"They have to be Cylons. There's no way two sets of sextuplets just happen to be helping the Cylons." Vannick said.

"You guys hang back I'm going to see how far away they are." Archangel said.

With his rifle held tightly in his hands he moved from his hiding place. He looked to see they had now got to where the road turned away and were out of sight. What concerned him more than the human Cylons was what they had been saying. An experiment, what were they talking about, it had to be them.

"Okay lets move." Archangel said.

The group quickly ran over the road and down the street facing them. He stopped for a second clearly deep in thought. What the frak was going on? He thought they were still alive because they had been fighting but now he was starting to wonder.

"You okay?" Grace asked him.

"No not really. Did you hear what they said?" he replied.

"We're an experiment." She replied.

"Yeah that can be stopped at any time. They're letting us survive."

"No way, we're alive because we've been destroying every last toaster they sent against us." Skeeter said.

"How are we going to know whose human and who isn't from now on?" Danny asked.

It was the question no one wanted to answer.

"We won't." Grace said.

"Come on even if it is them letting us live we can't stay here. We have to find some ammo and keep going." Archangel said.

The group carried on walking down the deserted streets. Even though they walked in silence everyone's thoughts were on what they had just seen. When Grace had seen the number 1's and 2's she had become very quickly concerned some of her sister models may have been with them, but thankfully they weren't. Things were becoming more and more complicated very quickly. It was only a matter of time now before they saw another 6 then her mission would be over. This was the first time she had wanted to speak to one of her fellow Cylons, to tell them to keep any 6's far away from them. Surely they would have already thought of that. They didn't want her cover blown and she certainly didn't.

"Guys, we might find some more ammo there." Vannick said.

They all turned to see him pointing to a police station.

"Okay lets make this quick." Archangel said.

They darted across the street and into the deserted police station.

"Vannick, you Skeeter and Danny go that way and search down here. Grace and I will go upstairs. Call in in 5 minutes."

"Yes sir." Vannick replied.

The station was totally deserted. There were even plates of food that had been left when people must have run when they heard about the attack. As they walked past some of the desks Skeeter saw a packet of cigarettes. He picked it up and lit one.

"Urgh menthol." He said.

Vannick let out a laugh.

"I thought you hated menthol." Danny said as Skeeter continued to smoke it.

"That's true but a cigarettes a cigarette." He replied with a grin.

As they left the office area they found one of the armoires.

Vannick took his radio from his belt, "Archangel we found an armoury."

"Good we'll keep looking up here, see what else we can find." He replied.

Grace watched Archangel as they searched for more bullets. Since she had read his file on the base ship she had never imagined not only that she would be chosen but that she would start to fall in love with him.

"You okay?" she asked him.

"Yeah just a bit head fraked. Cylons who look like humans, it had never even crossed my mind. And what they said, that disturbs me the most." He replied.

She took hold of his hand and turned him towards her. "We are alive because we've been fighting for our lives, no other reason. We can't change anything we've been doing." She smiled at him.

"You know there have been times when I wondered what the point of all this has been. Running fighting and to what? A raptor that may or may not be there and to a planet that is probably worse off than this one. Then I look at you and I know why I'm doing it. The world may be ruined but I don't care anymore, as long as we stay alive."

She smiled but couldn't help wondering what he would do if he ever found out she was a Cylon. Probably put a bullet between her eyes. He kissed her and all her worries went away.

"We better get back to looking." He said with a smile.

"We hit the jackpot guys." Danny said as they loaded up their bags with bullets.

"That we did." Skeeter replied.

They all stopped when they heard a crash from the office. Vannick put his finger to his mouth and signalled them to pick up the bags. He moved to the door and peered out. Sure enough there were two centurions in the office. Skeeter and Danny moved up behind him. He signalled them there were two cylons outside.

"We're coming down now." They both heard from over the radio.

The two centurions heard that and came bounding towards them. Vannick moved out and opened fire taking one of them down, followed by Skeeter who took out the other one with his shotgun.

Vannick took his radio from his belt.

"Archangel, we've just taken down two centurions." He said.

"Okay we're on our way."

Archangel and Grace both quickly made their way to the stair way. He quickly checked down the stairs and saw a centurion standing at the bottom. He took a grenade from his belt and threw it down. Seconds later the explosion took out the robot.

"Come on lets move."

When they got to the bottom of the stairs they were met by the others.

"We have to get out of here fast." Skeeter said.

"The doors back that way." Archangel replied.

"Yeah we can't go that way, we just passed by the door, there are about a dozen centurions outside." Vannick said.

"Let's head to the back. Did you find much ammo?"

"Oh yeah." Skeeter replied.

They all moved a quickly as they could, so far so good. As they reached the back of the police station they found the emergency exit. Skeeter tried the handle but it was locked.

"Stand back." Vannick said shooting the lock out having the door open straight away. Out side a large car park showed no signs of any cylons.

"How the frak did they even find us? We hear them say they didn't know where we are." Skeeter said.

"I guess they must have just been patrolling the area." Archangel replied.

"Guys should we take a couple of these cars?" Danny asked.

"No we stay on foot. If there are more of them we'll attract more attention." Archangel replied.

As they reached the end of the car park they checked both ends of the street and couldn't see any signs of any enemy.

"Which way?" Grace asked.

"We need to keep heading north, we need to get to that bunker." Archangel replied, "We need to move quickly and quietly."

The town that used to be full of life was now silent. They quickly made their way through the streets with no sign of any enemy contact. Without speaking Archangel signalled them to head into the tree line at the end of the road. They all quickly darted into the trees. They had made it without being seen.

Danny lagged at the rear as the others walked ahead. No one had even seemed to notice that he hadn't been talking much over the last few days. He didn't really even mind anymore. Despite their situation everyone seemed happy. He watched Archangel and Grace walking out in front. He knew they liked each other, he could tell by the way they looked at each other and kept smiling at one another. He was happy for them, if indeed that was what was happening, he knew that he was often wrong about things but he was sure he was right this time. His hand had stopped hurting a few days ago but he still took the pain killers they had taken from the air base. He was still upset about it but he had decided to try and hide it.

"You okay buddy?" Skeeter asked.

Danny nodded his head, "Yeah I'm fine, are you okay?" he replied.

"Yeah I'm good. You've been a little quiet today. Anything you want to talk about?"

"No I'm fine."

"You know you can still talk to me. I know I've been a little short with you recently and I'm really sorry about that."

"It's okay. I know I can be annoying."

"No it's my fault. At first I wasn't handling things very well and I took it out on you. There's no excuse for that."

"Honestly Skeeter it's okay. This has been hard on everyone."

"How's your hand?"

"It's okay, the pain has stopped, it just tingles a lot."

"Have you been changing the bandage?"

Danny nodded his head, "Grace helped me with it last night. She's nice I like her."

"We all do, especially Archangel."

"I thought so. I'm glad for him."

"Me too buddy, who would have thought it would take the end of the world for him to find someone."

Hours later they were still walking and were preparing to find somewhere to settle in for the night. As they walked they could see Lake Sagittaron, the largest lake in the colonies to their right as they walked.

"It is beautiful." Grace said as they walked.

"It is. I remember when I was a kid my dad brought me out here fishing every summer. We would come here for a week during summer vacation just the two of us and sit and fish." Archangel replied.

"They must be nice memories." She replied.

"They are. I haven't been here since I was 15 but it's still as beautiful as I remember."

Vannick came rushing over, "Boss there's a log cabin up ahead."

"Looks like we've found our place to settle in for the night." Archangel replied.

The cabin was quite large from the outside. It appeared there was no one around. The group had stayed in the tree line while they looked around.

"Okay Vannick and I will go and check the cabin, I want you guys to stay here." Archangel said.

Both men moved out of their cover towards the cabin in silence. They reached the door quickly and went inside. The cabin was furnished inside very nicely. They moved through the inside quickly checking all the rooms and finding no one.

"Looks like we're going to sleep well tonight." Vannick said after they had checked the last room.

"It's about time we had some luck." Archangel replied, "I'll go get the others."

When he reached the front door he signalled to the others to come inside. All their faces lit up when they saw their home for the evening. Skeeter dropped down onto one of the sofas in the living room area.

"This is nice." Skeeter said.

"There's food we can eat in the kitchen." Vannick said as he came through.

"Looks like we've fallen on our feet this time." Grace said.

As night came the cabin fell into darkness. As much as they wanted to light a fire there was too big a risk of being seen. Skeeter and Danny had volunteered to stay down stairs to keep an eye out for any Cylons. As Archangel walked into the big bedroom the light from the moon that managed to fight its way through the nuclear clouds lit up the room. Grace was already lying in bed.

"Hey." She said as she saw him walk in.

"Room in there for another?" he asked with a grin on his face.

"I think we can manage that." She replied.

As he got into bed Grace put her head on his chest and her arms round him.

"I could get used to this." He said.

"If we get rescued we can do this more often." She replied.

"When we get rescued I think we should spend the rest of our lives like this."

She looked up at him, "In all seriousness if we get rescued you're going to get back into the cockpit aren't you."

"I want to live my life if we get picked up and I want to live it with you. When we get rescued I'm giving this life up."

"Seriously?" she asked.

"Seriously. I've lived my entire adult life training for the military with one singular thought in my mind. I've achieved all my goals in the military and ignored anything else. I want to focus on other things now, I want to focus on you."

Grace was genuinely shocked by what he had said and for the first time since this all started longed to be rescued by the humans. As she kissed him for the first time in her life she felt nothing but happiness and for the first time she felt love and let the passion of the moment take her over.

DAY 17

Skeeter sat on the porch of the cabin with a cigarette in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. The lake looked beautiful with the orange glow from the sun fighting to shine through the nuclear clouds. As he took a drag from the cigarette he saw Danny appear next to him.

"Morning." Danny said.

"Hey buddy did you sleep well?"

"Not really, I kept having dreams I was being chased by Centurions." He replied.

"I hate that, the one place we should be able to relax and not think about centurions and then we spend all night dreaming about them."

"Do you have those dreams?" he asked.

Skeeter nodded his head, "Yeah, I usually wake up just before they catch or kill me."

"Sometimes I wish I'd died in one of the explosions."

Skeeter was shocked, "You shouldn't think that way."

"Well I do, I think you guys would have an easier time if you didn't have to keep looking out for me."

"That's not true and I want you to stop thinking like that. We look out for each other."

Danny nodded his head. "Okay."

"You know if you need to talk about anything you can talk to me, right?"

Danny nodded his head again.

Skeeter caught a glimpse of something from the corner of his eye. He dropped his cigarette and put his coffee down and looked to where he thought he'd seen something.

"What is it?" Danny asked.

"I'm not sure I thought I.." he was cut off by the sound of gun fire. They both dived for the door way as Skeeter returned fire with his sidearm. As they got into the house the dived for their weapons and moments later they were joined by the others.

"How many?" Vannick asked.

"I don't know I only caught a glimpse." Skeeter replied.

Vannick went to the window and opened fire before moving back for cover.

"Seven on the left, five on the right." He said.

"We have to go, now." Archangel said.

"There's a door at the back." Grace said.

"Okay lets move." Archangel said. He moved to the window and fired one of the rocket launchers before joining the others.

The back of the house was clear as they all moved out.

"We need to move up this hill and get to higher ground." Vannick said.

As they began to move Archangel and Vannick gave covering fire to the others. Danny and Grace moved out ahead. Skeeter stopped by a large tree and began to open fire.

"Come on." Skeeter shouted to Archangel and Vannick and gave them cover while they moved out.

Archangel saw Danny and Grace waiting up ahead, "You two keep moving we'll catch up." He yelled.

As Archangel and Vannick caught up with Skeeter they all turned to return fire to the now fifteen Cylons who were pursuing. As they were about to turn and join Grace and Danny there was a large explosion cutting them off.

"We won't make it, we have to find better cover." Vannick said.

Archangel quickly scanned the horizon and saw a dry ditch ahead.

"Over there, we can hold up there better."

Vannick and Skeeter both threw grenades before making a run for it.

Danny and Grace managed to make it further up the steep hill. They turned to see the other pinned down by enemy fire.

"We have to help them." Danny said.

"We'll get hit by fire if we head back down. They're laying down fire between us and them."

"But they can't get to us." He replied.

It suddenly dawned on Grace. The 3 had told her they'd split the group when it was time. The centurions were keeping them split till she had carried out her orders. She knew that if she didn't do it they would all die. That made the horrible decision easier for her, she couldn't let Archangel die.

"We have to keep moving, we'll find somewhere we can fight back. We're in the open here. Danny come on now."

She turned and pulled Danny with her. Reluctantly he went with her.

The Cylons barrage of fire was heavier than they had experienced before. Vannick fired another grenade at the oncoming centurions taking a couple of them out.

"They're not coming any closer." Skeeter said.

As Archangel looked through his scope he saw one of the number 1's behind the centurions. He aimed his rifle and put a bullet between the Cylon's eyes.

"I just took out one of the human toasters."

The three of them kept firing at the centurions. No matter how many they took out more kept appearing.

"If this is it just wanted you guys to know it was fun while it lasted." Skeeter said.

"I'll be fraked if I'm gonna die here." Vannick replied as he reloaded his rifle.

Danny was running at full pelt through the undergrowth. He turned to see if Grace was still behind him and stopped in his tracks, she wasn't there. He suddenly began to get very worried. He took out his sidearm with his good hand and began to head back, retracing his footsteps.

"GRACE." He yelled.

He moved back, retracing his steps. He preyed nothing had happened to her, how could he tell Archangel he hadn't been keeping an eye on her. Suddenly he saw her just standing in front of him. Then a centurion appeared. He raised his gun but not in time. The metal monster hit him hard. He felt his jaw shatter as he flew 5ft back and landed on a heap on the ground. He tried to tell Grace to run but he couldn't speak. Blood poured from his mouth. He tried to stand back up but Grace was on him in a flash. Her knees on his chest she began to hit him hard around the head. He couldn't understand what was happening. As Grace stopped hitting him she grabbed him by the throat. Through blurred vision he saw her looking down on him, tears rolling down her face.

"I'm sorry Danny but this has to be done. I'm a Cylon."

Danny began to cry, he couldn't believe what he was hearing, he wanted to fight back but the pain coursing through his body was too much for him. He managed to raise his good arm but Grace grabbed it with her free arm and snapped his wrist under the pressure of her grip.

"They made me choose, either you or Skeeter. It was no choice, it had to be you. He needs Skeeter if he is going to survive this."

She began to hit him again with all her strength. He felt his nose break and his skull crack as the relentless punches kept coming. Then she stopped and stood up. She raised her hand gun as she stood over him.

"They've stopped!" Vannick said.

All three of them looked up and saw the centurions were gone.

"Come on we have to go." Archangel said.

The three of them quickly but cautiously got up and made their way in the direction Danny and Grace had gone.

"I'm sorry." Grace said as she pulled the trigger shooting him in the chest.

She looked up at the centurion before shooting it emptying the magazine into it. She kneeled down beside Danny as life began to drain away from him. He looked up at her, terror and fear in his eyes as she began to stroke his hair.

"I truly am sorry." She said quietly.

Moments later Archangel and the others appeared and stopped dead in their tracks.

"Danny." Skeeter said rushing over to his friend.

Danny tried to tell Skeeter but could only manage gurgling noises.

"Don't worry buddy you'll be okay, it's not that bad." Skeeter said, tears rolling down his face. Everyone knew it was a lie, including Danny. Grace stood up.

Everyone stood in silence, not knowing what to say.

"It's okay, you're going to be okay." Skeeter said to his friend.

Moments later it was all over, Danny had passed away. Skeeter hugged his friend before standing up.

"What the frak happened?" he yelled walking towards Grace.

She backed off as Archangel stood in front of her.

"We were ambushed by a centurion," she said pointing to the robot, "Danny pushed me out of the way, he saved my life. There was nothing I could do. Before I knew what was happening it had grabbed him by the throat, it hit him, repeatedly before letting him go. It managed to get a shot off before I emptied my gun into it. I'm sorry there was nothing I could do."

"It's okay, it's not your fault." Archangel said hugging her.

"It's not okay," Skeeter yelled, "I was supposed to look after him, I promised his mother, I was supposed to look after him."

He fell to his knees sobbing. Archangel walked over to him.

"We have to go." He said wiping tears from his eyes.

"We can't leave him here." Skeeter replied.

"We're not going to." Archangel said.

Archangel moved over to his dead friend and managed to pick him up.

As the sun began to go down the four survivors stood over the freshly dug grave of their friend.

"Lords of Kobol hear our prayers. Take the soul of our fallen friend Danny into your arms and take him into the afterlife. Keep him safe and reunite him with his mother and the souls of all those taken before who loved and cared for him." Archangel said.

Skeeter wiped his eyes before he began to speak, "He didn't have an easy life but he made the best of everything given to him. He was one of the kindest gentlest people I've ever met and I'm proud to be able to call him my friend. I swear to you Danny that I will destroy every Cylon I find. I will make them pay for what they did. And I'll see you again when it's my time. Rest in peace my friend, you will be missed. So say we all."

"So say we all." The others said together.

Grace walked over and hugged Skeeter.

"I'm sorry Skeeter, I truly am." She said.

"It's not your fault. He saved your life, he was a hero." Skeeter replied.

Grace felt guilty and she hated it, she hated herself. What she had done to them and what she and her kind continued to do to them every day. It was at that moment she made up her mind, for better or worse she was turning her back on her people. They had driven her to this. They had sent her to these people but they hadn't counted on one thing, she had fallen in love.


	4. Revenge

DAY 23

For the first time in a week the sun was trying to blaze through the thick nuclear clouds on Sagitarron. Captain Mark "Archangel" Hunter led the small group of survivors through one of the thickest forests on the planet. Their goal a Black Op's air strip nearly 70 miles away from their current location.

"Anybody need to break for five minutes?" Archangel asked.

"That would be good." Skeeter replied sitting down.

They all began to relax for a few minutes. Archangel took his binoculars and began to check the horizon. As soon as he heard the click he knew he had stepped on something he shouldn't have. He didn't even have time to react, the electric current hit him hard and fast and threw him 20ft backwards. Archangel hit the ground unconscious. Grace and Skeeter rushed over to him. She checked for a pulse which she quickly found and felt relief that he was still alive.

"What the frak was that?" Skeeter asked.

"Drop your weapons immediately." Vannick yelled.

Grace and Skeeter turned to see him pointing a sidearm and his rifle at two unidentified men standing 10ft away from him.

The two men lowered their weapons.

"That was a device to short out Cylons. We didn't know there were any more survivors around here." One of the men said.

Vannick lowered his weapons.

"We have a doctor at our camp, come on quickly." The man replied.

Vannick and Skeeter carried Archangel to the camp. It was huge and at the foot of a mountain. There were people and buildings everywhere watching as the newcomers carried their friend quickly through the camp.

"In here." The man said.

They walked into a small building which had been done out as an infirmary. Dr Paul Mantill rushed over to them.

"What's happened?" he said.

"He stepped on one of the charges, he's still alive." The man replied.

"Okay all of you get out of my way."

"What the frak is this place?" Skeeter demanded.

"It seems to have been some sort of research facility at some point. We found it after the attack and since then we've been hiding out here. Finding more survivors every now and again. You're lucky you found us now, the doctor didn't get here till last week."

The man stepped back as the door opened and a tall middle aged man walked in. He walked straight over to Vannick, Skeeter and Grace.

"Is you're friend okay?" he asked.

"We don't know." Grace replied.

"My name is Asher Grennik. Welcome to our haven from the Cylons. I am so sorry we met under these circumstances. As you may have realised we have had to take steps to protect ourselves."

"I'm Vannick, this is Skeeter and Grace. Good to see we're not the only ones left out here."

"You and your friend are military?" Asher asked.

Vannick nodded in reply.

"Good to have you here. Most of the people here had never picked up a weapon before this. Doctor how is our new friend?"

The doctor continued to work as he spoke.

"He seems to be okay. He stepped on one of the smaller charges luckily it just gave him a small charge. He appears to have hit his head when he fell that will have been what knocked him unconscious. He should be fine."

Everyone seemed visually releaved by this news.

"Come, I will take you to where you can bunk then you can take a look around while we make your friend comfortable."

The camp was quite large and housed over 100 survivors. Vannick and Skeeter took the opportunity to walk around the site while Grace sat with Archangel.

"You guys must be the newcomers everyone are talking about."

They turned to see a man sat sharpening a hunting knife.

"I'm Karl Michaels, I just got here last week." He stood up and offered his hand which they both shook.

"I'm Skeeter this is Vannick."

"Pleased to meet you both, nice to see some new faces."

"So how did you manage to survive?" Vannick asked.

"I was hiding in the mountains with a few other people I had found. I'm a survival expert. How about you?"

"We've been on the move since the attack, we've been looking for a ship to get us off planet."

"If you don't mind me asking and go where?"

"Caprica." Vannick replied.

"What makes you think Caprica will be better then here?" Michaels replied.

"It won't in fact it will probably be worse but it's our best chance of rescue." Vannick said.

"Well let me know when you guys intend to leave, if it's okay I'd rather come with you than stay here."

"Why what's been going on here?" Skeeter asked.

"It's just a feeling that's all. Since I got here everyone else who was here before us is very secretive. There are certain places in this camp they won't let us go. I think there's more going on here than meets the eye."

Grace sat with Archangel who was still unconscious. She was relieved to know he was going to be okay. She sat up as he began to stir. He slowly opened his eyes and gave out a cough before turning to Grace and smiling.

"Hey." He said quite groggily.

"Hey, I'd ask how you're feeling but that would be a stupid question." She smiled at him.

"I've been worse, what happened?"

"You stepped on a charge that had been left to short out a Cylon. You're lucky if you had stepped on one of the bigger ones you would be dead."

"Where are we?" he asked.

"A survivors camp. There are about 100 people here. They have a doctor who has been looking after you."

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah I'm fine, now I know you're okay."

"Hey it's gonna take more than an electric shock to beat me." He said with a little laugh.

Archangel looked up as Asher walked in.

"Ah you're awake, good." He said, he held out his hand, "I am Asher it is very nice to meet you Captain."

"You too."

"Have we met before, you look very firmiliar?"

"Not that I can remember," Archangel lied, "Although I'm not very good with faces."

"Fair enough, when you feel better you must eat with me, we can trade war stories."

"I'll look forward to it." Archangel replied.

After he had left the room Grace turned to Archangel, "Do you know him."

Archangel nodded his head, "Oh yes I know him, he's SFM."

9 MONTHS BEFORE THE FALL

Archangel sat in the reception area outside the officer of Admiral Corman. He didn't know why he had been summoned but he knew it would be a new mission. Corman's secretary looked up and smiled as she always did when the young Captain sat there. He didn't often get back to Picon Fleet Headquarters but always enjoyed it when he did. The secretaries intercom went off and Archangel heard the voice he was so firmiliar with.

"Caroline please send in Captain Hunter."

"Yes sir."

Archangel was already getting to his feet as she spoke.

"The Admiral is ready for you now."

"Thank you."

As Archangel walked into the office he was met by Admiral Corman.

"Good to see you Mark, thank you for coming so quickly. Please sit, can I get you a drink?"

"Yes please."

Corman poured two glasses of whiskey and handed one to Archangel.

"How have you been?" Corman asked.

"Well thank you sir. Enjoying life on the Atlantia. How is your family sir?"

"Good, Jane is getting married."

"Give her my best."

"I will, there will be an invatation on the way. Anyway down to business. Are you firmiliar with Asher Grennik?"

"Yes sir he took over the SFM when Tom Zarek was sent to prison."

"We've received intel that he and the SFM are massing a nuclear arsenal."

"What? Where the frak would he get nukes from?"

"There are rumours he is getting them from a Tauron arms dealer. We also have the details of a meeting he is going to attend on Geminon and we want you to go and intercept him."

"May I ask how reliable is the intel?"

"It comes from a source which has never been wrong before."

"How do you want me to proceed?"

"We know where and when he is going to be, we want you to be waiting for him and very publicly put a bullet in his brain. We want to make an example of him, we will not tolerate terrorism in any way."

"Won't this provoke the SFM to use their nukes?"

"We do not believe it will. It seems they do not have enough yet for whatever they are planning. We have other operatives tracking them down, we are very close to finding their base."

"When do you want me to leave?"

"You have 5 days. All the information is here. You leave for Geminon in 4 days. Use the rest of the time to firmiliarise yourself with the details and relax a little."

Grace walked through the complex conscious that she was being watched as she walked. This is one thing the Cylons had never thought of, SFM survivors. She had no idea whether the rest of her people knew they were here. She had broken off contact after she had killed Danny. She saw Vannick up ahead jogging towards her.

"Hey you okay?" he asked.

"Yes but we need to talk."

Vannick like Grace was aware that some people were keeping an eye on them.

"What's up?"

"Archangel is conscious."

"Thank the Gods for that."

"He recognised Asher."

"Where from?"

"The SFM."

Vannick tried not to look shocked at this news but he knew his face had betrayed him.

"What the frak, is he sure?"

Grace nodded her head, "Yes he had been sent to kill him a while ago but had been betrayed by someone and never got the chance."

"He thinks this whole place is an SFM camp."

"That explains a lot. We're going to have to get the frak out of here."

"We're going to have to wait. That shock has taken a lot out of him. Have you spoken to many people so far?"

"I spoke to a guy called Michaels. He's only been here a week, he was found with a few other survivors."

"Talk to him, make sure he's legit. Arch said he wants to try and find out if there is anyone here who isn't SFM so we can take them with us when we leave."

"Something makes me think leaving here isn't going to be as easy as we may have thought."

"Don't worry about that, Archangel is coming up with a plan already."

Asher watched from his quarters as Grace and Vannick went their separate ways. He turned as the huge looming frame of his right hand man walked through the door. He looked as mean as he did large. At 6ft7" he towered above Asher and was pure muscle. Philip Raymon walked up to his friend.

"You called for me?" Philip asked.

"Have you seen our new guests yet?" Asher asked.

"Not all of them but I am aware of them."

"We may have a problem. Do you remember last year, the assassin who was sent after the false information we fed the admiralty?"

"Yes he slaughtered 15 of our men as he made his escape."

"I think he is in our infirmary."

"What?" Philip said, totally taken by surprise, "Do you want me to go deal with him?"

"No not yet," Asher replied, "Keep an eye on him and his friends. He definitely recognised me but he is currently in not state to do anything about it. For now we will play nice. For now."

"Of course." Philip replied.

"There is one other thing I would like you to do, ask Jen to prepare a meal for everyone tonight, I want to honor our new guests."

Philips gave him a surprised look.

"Like I said, nice."

Archangel sat himself up on the side of the bed. He gave a deep breath and stood up. Momentarily he felt a sharp twinge of pain but it died off quickly. He walked over the the window and looked outside. People going about their business but keeping a look out of the corner of their eye at the newcomers. Making sure they weren't seen doing anything they shouldn't have done.

"How the hell are you out of bed, let alone standing?" Dr Mantill asked clearly surprised.

Archangel turned and smiled.

"Yeah I've seen that look before," he said, "All I need to do is walk it off, I'll be fine."

"Never the less you need to be careful, you took one hell of a shock to the system. You still need to take things easy. I found some of these painkillers while I was checking their inventory which I want you to take three times a day if you're in pain."

He handed them to Archangel.

"Thank you," he took the pills from the doctor, "So you haven't been here long then?"

"No I arrived last week with Michaels and the others. We'd been surviving in the mountains. One day when we came down for supplies and saw these guys doing the same."

"Safety in number then?" Archangel asked.

"Something like that."

That evening they were all sat in a mess hall around a large table talking and eating. Archangel was sitting a little too close to Asher for his liking.

"So It's good to see you up on your feel a lot earlier than expected." Asher said smiling over to Archangel.

"I'm just full of suprises." Archangel replied.

He grabbed his knife tightly in his hand and in one swift move plunged it straight into Asher's throat before ripping it out, blood spraying everywhere. Taking everyone by surprise. Phillips dived towards Archangel, who turned the same knife onto him without any warning. Phillips hit the ground on both knees gargling through the blood spurting out of his throat before falling onto his face. Everything seemed to go into slow motion. Archangel drew both his pistols and began to fire each bullet hitting a target and putting it down. This felt like a natural, easy thing to do. Archangel only stopped firing because he had run out of bullets. He looked down at both hands, barrels slid back into the empty position with smoke billowing out. As he looked up he saw the extent of what he had done. He began to scream.

"NOOOO"

As he looked around the room, everyone was dead, Grace, Vannick, Skeeter, Michaels, Asher and all the other SFM. He had lost control and everyone was dead. He closed his eyes and clenched the weapons in his hand. When he opened them again he was clutching his knife and fork and everyone around the table was looking at him.

"Are you okay?" Grace asked looking consirned.

It was all a day dream. Thank the gods he thought.

"I'm not feeling so good, I'm going to get some air."

"Need me to come with you?" Skeeter asked quietly.

"No stay and finish your food."

Archangel walked out of the door into the cool night air. He took a few deep breaths and began to walk. What had gotten into him. Why would he dream he had killed all his friends.

"Are you okay?"

9 MONTHS BEFORE THE FALL

Archangel turned around and saw a young woman talking to him.

"Are you okay? You look a little lost." She asked.

"Yeah I'm fine. Never been to Geminon City that's all."

"I'm guessing you're here on vacation?" she said pointing to the back pack on his back.

"Something like that. Just taking a look around, seeing all the sights." He said pointing to the Geminon College buildings.

"Fair enough. Well if you want a guided tour, I'm free tonight, for example. Give me a call, I can show you the cities night life."

She handed Archangel her card. Anna Picall a junior journalist for the Geminon Chronicle. She smiled and then turned and began to walk away.

Archangel smiled back before turning into the opposite direction.

"Sorry about that." Archangel said.

"No problem, handsome man like you, not suprising really." Major Kaleen Turner said on the other end of his radio.

"Okay I'm at the building. How are those satellite readouts looking?" he asked as he walked inside.

"Looking good, no sign of anyone in your building."

Archangel began to walk up the abandoned stairwell.

"It's a shame they let these old buildings get like this." Archangel said.

"That bad?" Kaleen asked.

"Garbage and graffiti everywhere and nothing says welcome like the smell of stale piss."

"Ohhh nice."

"Okay I'm at the floor."

Archangel walked through the old double doors and straight into the room facing them. It was completely empty, no one had lived there in a long time. Archangel walked over the window and took the bag of his back.

"Okay I've got a clear line of sight I'm gonna set up."

Archangel opened the bag and took out parts of a sniper rifle, which he quickly put together.

He took out a small glass cutter and cut a small circle into the window and got himself into a position, ready for his target.

"Okay I'm in position and ready."

"Very good Captain, you have ten minutes before he gets there."

Archangel turned to see Grace behind him.

"Yeah I'm fine, go finish your food, it's all fine."

She walked over to him and took his hand.

"That was far from fine and everyone noticed it."

"I stood on a knockout shock today I'm just not feeling myself."

He turned and began to walk away, Grace followed.

"You know you're not a very good liar."

"I am, just not with you I suppose." He sighed to himself, "My mind just drifted a little and I saw myself killing him that was all. I just need to rest."

"And seeing that shook you up so badly?"

"I had killed you all." He said bluntly

Grace was shocked, that, she hadn't expected. She knew he was capable of great distruction and murder but it never crossed her mind what would happen should he ever loose control, how far he was capable of going.

"We need to get as far away from here as possible." She said.

"We need to get all the people we know aren't SFM before we go."

"Then what?"

"Then when you guys are as far away from here as possible I'm going to light this place up like the bay on Colonial day."

DAY 24

Vannick and Michaels jogged along the edge of the camp, only occasionally seeing anyone else. They both spoke quietly as they jogged.

"So what's the plan exactly?" Michaels asked.

"Once we're all ready Skeeter and I are going to lead you all out of here during the night. I've already picked a route where we shouldn't come up against anyone."

"And if we do?" Michaels replied.

"Then we do what we have to do."

"Where will Archangel be during all this?"

"He has some business to finish off. Something he was supposed to do a while ago."

"Sounds ominus."

Vannick laughed, "Something like that. Just get the people you came here with ready and we'll get you all out of here."

Asher and Phillip were both walking through a large corridor by themselves.

"Can I ask what are we going to do here? Are we going to use them?" Phillip asked.

Asher didn't reply straight away, both men carried on walking.

"If we do use them we have to be dam sure we're ready to go once we have. The Cylons catch one whiff of this and they'll be on us quicker than a fly on shit."

"And what about our new comers?"

"Still undecided, but if we were to do this, the Cylons would have to find them when they arrived."

The corridor opened out into a large bunker with dozens of missiles.

"How are things down here?" Asher asked.

The man sat guarding the room stood up.

"Everything is fine, radiation levels are still within safe limits. All is good sir."

"That's what I like to hear. Be ready, we're getting closer to nuking some toasters."

Michaels walked into the infirmary and saw Dr Mantill sitting behind his desk.

"Hey buddy how are you today?" Mantill asked.

"Good, I need to talk to you, can we go get a coffee or something?" Michaels replied.

"Sure. Everything okay?"

Michaels replied as he they both walked outside.

"Yeah. Listen we have to get out of here."

"What? Why?" Mantill replied.

"You said it yourself to me the other day, something's not right here. Everything just seems a little off. Places we can and can't go, armed guards in certain places. Vannick, the marine who just got here says that they're going to be leaving as soon as possible and want to take everyone with them who arrived here with me."

"And go where? Yeah it's a little odd here but why would we want to leave?" Mantill replied.

"Firstly, please keep your voice down. They're going to Caprica as it's our best chance of being rescued."

Mantill let out a laugh, "Rescued by who?"

"Colonial military. The guy you worked on yesterday, he's an officer in the military and he was told to get there for rescue. Secondly because he also says that this place is an SFM base."

Mantill stopped dead in his tracks.

"What? Are you fraking serious?"

"Yes. And please keep your voice down." Michaels grabbed him by the arm and pulled him to one side out of anyones way.

"Why does he think that?" Mantill asked in a loud whisper.

"All I know is he knows Asher and apparently it was Asher who took over from Tom Zarek when he was sent to jail."

"My father and uncle died in that fraking explosion that son of a bitch planted."

"Right now I just need to know if you're going to come with us."

Mantill shook his head in reply.

"Good, now I need you to get as many medical supplies together as you can. Enough that you can carry with you."

Mantill shook his head again.

"And keep this to yourself. Talk to no one except me about this do you hear me?"

Mantill didn't respond.

"I said did you hear me?" Michaels said in a firm yet hushed tone.

"Yes." He replied.

"Good now go back to the infirmary and get some things together, when we move it will be fast and there won't be much warning."

"I'll be ready." Mantill replied.

Archangel, Vannick, Skeeter and Grace were all sat in the quarters they had been given. They had checked the room for any listening devices and found nothing.

"How is it all going?" Archangel asked.

"Good, I spoke to Michaels earlier and he's talking to his people."

"Does he believe us?" Grace asked.

"Yeah he does. He said he's been noticing weird stuff since he got here anyway. I also scoped the route out and it should be quite clear. If we come up against anyone it should be one or two people at the most."

"Good that's very good. We need to get the word to Michaels, if they're ready we're going to go tonight."

"You know I'd feel a lot happier if you were going to be coming with us." Grace said.

"Me too buddy, this plan of yours could be suicide." Skeeter replied.

"Trust me, it will all be fine. I've laid certain plans that will ensure we get away without any bother." Archangel replied.

"So why do you need to go and see Asher face to face?" Skeeter asked.

"Because he's a monster and I'm following my orders."

"Orders you were given a long time ago." Grace said.

"If you all knew half of the things this man has done in the name of freedom for Sagittaron you would do this yourself. The attrocoties he has committed took a lot to hide from the general public but trust me, this has to be done."

As the sun began to set behind the nuclear clouds plans started to be implemented. Doctor Mantill had managed to get quite a lot of kit together that he would be able to carry. The rage inside him was at boiling point. All he wanted to do was walk up to Asher and kill him with his bare hands but he knew that if he did that would prove disasturous for everyone. He looked up when he heard someone walk into the infirmary. Asher and Phillip stood infront of him.

"Doctor how are you? I haven't seen much of you today." Asher asked.

"I've been doing a stock take on all our supplies." He replied.

"How do things look?" he asked, "Do I need to send people out to raid some hospitals?"

"No everything is fine. Unless we have some kind of disaster we should be set for months."

"Good. I just wanted to make sure you were alright. Everyone under my protection is important to me. Do not hesitate to come to me, for anything at all."

Mantill forced a smile and nodded his head.

Asher and Phillip turned and walked away.

"Something is going on my friend. All the newcomers from the last week are acting, well strange." Asher said.

"Do you want me to pay them all a visit?"

"No not yet, something is coming, I can feel it, let's see how this plays out."

Archangel put both of his holsters on and checked they were both loaded.

"I need you guys to take my bag and rifle." Archangel said.

"Are you serious?" Skeeter exclaimed, "Why are you not taking your rifle?"

"Because when all hell breaks loose I need to be able to move quickly and it will weigh me down."

"Are you sure about this?" Vannick said.

"Yes, you guys should go now. Wait for me where we decided, I won't be long and no matter what you hear or see keep moving. This entire base is going to be swarming with Cylons quite quickly."

Vannick and Skeeter both shook his hand without saying anything. Grace kissed him.

"Make sure you get out of here in time, please." She said.

He smiled a smile that she knew wasn't put on for her, he actually seemed quite excited about what was about to happen.

"Don't worry I'll be fine and this is going to be a lot of fun." He replied.

He kissed her back and the moments later they all left the room.

Outside it was pitch black, only certain areas of the base were lit and luckily they hadn't deemed it worthy enough to light the quarters of the people who stayed there. Vannick lead the way, ready for anything. As they reached the end of the building he checked each direction and once it was clear they moved out towards the trees. When they got there Michaels was waiting with the others. Mantill, a young man called Mike, a middle aged preacher called Ramok and a young woman called Sarah sat with him.

"We were beginning to think you weren't coming." Michaels said with a smile.

"We were just trying to convince Archangel to come with us now." Vannick replied.

"Will he be able to do what he is planning?" Mantill asked.

"There's one thing you're gonna learn about Archangel, there is nothing it seems he can't do." Grace replied.

"Come on we've got a lot of ground to cover." Vannick said.

Archangel looked at his watch, they had had ten minutes, now it was his turn. He took a deep breath took out his knife and in complete silence left the quarters. As he walked through the shadows he placed a couple more explosives. The amount he had placed during the day would devistate this base, there was no way the Cylons would be able to miss it. He stopped dead in his tracks when he found himself standing behind two armed guards who were chatting away and smoking. In complete silence Archangel moved to his right and crawled under the building next to him. It was a tight fit but he quickly made his way to the other side. When he looked up he saw Asher's cabin in front of him with one guard stood outside. Through the dimly lit window he could see the outline of Asher and the hulking frame of his main goon Phillip with him. He moved out from under the building and back into the shadows.

Vannick and the others had made quite a bit of ground away from the camp. As he held up his hand everyone behind him stopped. An armed guard was blocking their way. Vannick turned and signalled to Skeeter there was one man in front. He handed Skeeter his rifle and took out his knife. He quickly moved up to him, grabbed the guards head pulled it back and slit his throat. There was a collective gasp as Vannick killed the man but no one spoke. Vannick didn't let himself feel anything, he took his rifle back from his friend and led the way again.

Before the guard outside of Asher's cabin had any time whatsoever to react Archangel had snapped his neck like a twig. He took out one of his sidearms and moved up the steps to the cabin door and stepped inside. Asher sat smiling at him as Philip lunged at the man they had been waiting for. He caught Archangel off guard and knocked him across the room, his gun flying out of his hand. As he got to his feet Philip was on him with his giant hands clamped around Archangel's throat. Archangel took out his knife and with all his strength lunged it into the giant mans head. For a second Philip didn't registed what had happened, but seconds after that he looked at Archangel with a confused look on his face before falling to his knees. Archangel had his other weapon raised at Asher who had quite successfully had the smile wiped off his face.

"You are him aren't you?" Asher asked.

"You'll have to be more specific than that." Archangel replied.

"The assassin the military sent after me."

"One and the same only this time you won't get away."

9 MONTHS BEFORE THE FALL

Archangel was beginning to get a little concerned. His target was 5 minutes late.

"I'm starting to get a bad feeling about this." Kaleen said from the other end of the comm."

"Well that's just great, you're supposed to be the one reassuring me." He replied with a laugh.

There was a pause, Archangel knew that was bad.

"Put away your weapon and get out of there now." Kaleen said.

Archangel immediately started to put away his weapon, "What's going on?"

"I've just picked up eight heat signatures heading into the building, we've been set up." She replied.

"Are there any other ways out of this building?"

"Yes if you can get to the 6th floor there will be a fire escape that will take you directly to the back ally way. I'll direct you once you get there."

Moments later the weapon was back in the bag and back on Archangels back. He took out a handgun with a silencer on the end.

"Okay so where are they?"

"Seven more have just appeared above you and are heading down. They're all on the stair well, run to level six as fast as you can."

Archangel darted out of the room and jumped down the first flight of stairs. Gun fire erupted from above him. Archangel looked up and saw a man above him, he fired one shot killing the man instantly.

"One down." Archangel replied as he jumped four stairs at a time.

Moments later he was crashing through the door marked 6.

"Take a left and go through the 3rd door on your left."

Archangel ran. As he reached the door three more men appeared behind him with their guns firing. Archangel took two of them down as he dived through the door. He ran to the window.

"Frak." He said.

"What is it?" Kaleen replied.

"That fire escape, well it's gone, it's laying on the ground in about a thousand pieces. Is there any other way out?"

"No only the way you came."

"Great." He said as the third man crashed into the room. Archangel put around between his eyes before he could fire off a shot.

"Okay there are only eleven of them, I can do this." He said.

"I'm going to call the police to the location." Kaleen said.

"Are you fraking kidding me? That will turn into an even bigger blood bath. I can deal with this, trust me." He replied. "I'll keep one of them alive for questioning."

He took the attackers rifle and extra magazines and moved back into the hallway. There was no sign of them.

"Okay where the frak are they?" he whispered.

"There are 5 of them waiting for you at the doorway to the stairs, the rest have taken up positions on the stairwell. They're waiting for you to come to them. What the frak are you going to do?"

"Kill them." He replied.

He reached into his bag and took out a grenade, from the cover of an open door way he pulled out the pin and rolled it towards the door before ducking into the doorway and covering his ears. Seconds later there was a huge explosion followed by screams.

"Okay you've taken out another five of them." Kaleen replied.

Archangel ran towards what was left of the two glass double doors firing the maching gun as he passed it.

"That's another two." He said as the four remaining men opened fire with everything they had, hitting nothing but wall. As soon as Archangel heard the click of four empty guns he moved out and took out three of the four before they could reload. The fourth man didn't have time to react to the but of Archangels rifle smashing him across the face, blood, teeth and his machine gun fell about the place. With one swift move Archangel broke both the mans legs and had him on the ground with his handgun pressed into the mans forehead.

"Who the frak sent you?" the man didn't immediately reply. Archangel shot him in the elbow.

"I will not repeat myself, the next time you do not reply I will cut out one of your eyeballs."

"Asher sent me. The information you received was false."

"Are you SFM?"

"Yes."

"Is Asher trying to buy nuclear weapons?"

"I'm not sure, I'm just a low level thug, but there are rumours that he already has them." The man replied.

Before Archangel could ask another question there was a gun shot which killed the man. Archangel looked up to see Anna the girl he bumped into outside with a gun raised. She smiled as she opened fire at Archangel who dived out of the way just in time.

"Are you okay?" Kaleen asked.

Archangel opened fire again but by the time he had got back up she was gone. In the distance police sirens could be heard.

"Are you able to get out of there?" Kaleen asked.

"Yes. Did you hear all that, they set us the Frak up."

Moments later he was out in the alley way and home free.

"Okay head to the safe house and stay there till the Admiral arrives."

"We have to get that sun of a bitch Asher."

PRESENT DAY

"I was never there to begin with, you know that anyway. You were set up from the start. We wanted to make a statement to the government."

"I think buying nuclear weapons did that."

"What are you going to do Captain? When you fire that weapon my people will hear the shot and then you and all your friends are dead."

"My friends are already long gone and your people will be way too distracted to hear one little gun shot."

Asher's smug grin dropped off his face. "Hasn't there been enough death already?" Asher asked, "Billions of people are dead, have some compassion."

"Compassion? You don't know the meaning of the word."

Archangel pulled the trigger putting a bullet right between Asher's eyes. He bent down to pick up his other gun and turned to leave the cabin. As he opened the door and stepped outside there were 5 people waiting with their weapons raised.

"Hands in the air." One of them yelled.

Archangel raised his hands with a small detonator in one of them.

"Where's Asher?"

"He and what are left of his brains are slumped on the floor inside." Archangel said with a smile. As he finished speaking he pressed the button starting a massive chain reaction of explosions that tore through the base. By the time the 5 people turned back for Archangel he was already gone.

As Vannick and the others reached the meeting point they saw the explosions in the distance that tore through the hillside.

"My gods he really wasn't joking about it looking like fireworks on Colonial day." Skeeter asked.

As they looked in awe at the sheer magnitude of the explosions Ramok began to prey. Moments later raiders appears in the sky and they saw heavy raiders begin to land.

"I hope he makes it." Michaels said.

As the explosions kept on happening around him the sound of gunfire had erupted too as well as the all too firmiliar sounds of cylon centurians in the distance getting closer. As Archangel ran into two more SFM he put them down with one bullet each before they realised he wasn't one of them. Archangel dived behind a large stack of crates just seconds before three centurians appeared and ran past him, killing anything and everything in their way. He could see where he needed to be and how far into the open he now had to go. He took a quick deep breath and moved out from behind his cover. Screaming could now be heard amoungst the explosions and the gunfire. Archangel let nothing distract him as he darted around anything that blocked his path. He stopped dead in his tracks as he nearly ran into a centurian with his back to him. He raised his weapon and shot the giant robot in the head before it even knew he was there. As gunfire hit near his feet he began to run again, as fast as he could, as hard as he could.

Vannick and the others sat on the cliff side watching the explosions and the battle going on in the distance.

"So how long are we supposed to be waiting here?" Mantill asked.

"As long as it takes." Grace replied.

Skeeter handed her a cigarette and they both lit up, the nerves in them both were alredy quite extreme.

"Impressive isn't it?" a voice said from behind them.

They all turned to see Archangel standing behind them, a smile on his face. Grace dropped her cigarette and ran to him throwing her arms round him and kissing him. She had a huge smile across her face.

"Yes it is." She replied.

"Did you do it?" Vannick asked.

"Yeah, the SFM are officially out of business." Archangel replied.

DAY 25

Fires were still burning five hours after the battle had died. A number 1, 2 and 3 walked through the wreckage of the base.

"I wonder what happened here?" the 2 asked.

"Centurians have found bodies killed by someone other than us." The 3 replied.

"Could it have been him?" the 2 asked.

"He is more than capable of this. Has there been any word at all recently from 6?" 1 asked.

"Nothing, we've heard nothing from her at all since she killed their friend." 3 said.

"We need to find them and bring her back to us. It's too dangerous for her to be with them when they reach Caprica, there are already too many 6's there." 1 said.

"Agreed it will put too much added pressure on this little game of yours." 3 replied.

"I am beginning to tire of this experiment. I am wondering if we should stop it all together, we came here to eradicate the human vermin, not keep them as pets." 1 said.


	5. Caprican Dawn

DAY 30

It hadn't rained for days. Despite the clouds it was actually quite warm. The orange glow of the sun through the clouds shone through the window and down onto Archangel and Grace as they lay in bed. Archangel watched her as she slept, seeing how beautiful the glow of the orange sun off her hair looked.

They had found the small motel two days before hand and had taken the time to rest up before going to the final airstrip. The others were worried about not finding a ship to get them to Caprica, but now, today in particular Archangel didn't care at all. Archangel watched as she began to stir. As she opened her eyes she looked up at him and smiled.

"Good morning." He said with a smile.

"Good morning to you too." She said giving him a kiss. "So today is the big day."

"It sure is, the last chance saloon." He replied with a chuckle.

"Hope there is a ship there." She said.

"Honestly I don't care one way or the other."

Grace looked at him, feeling rather confused by this statement.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because right now all I want to do is to stay here with you." He replied.

"Yeah right, I know how much you want to get rescued and get back into a fighter."

"Yeah well I've been thinking about that."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"If we get rescued, by the military I mean I'm not going to join them. I want to make a life with you."

"Are you serious?" she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

He nodded his head, "Very. But for now, unfortunately, we have to get up and get ready to leave."

As they both began to get ready Grace couldn't help but smile to herself. When she had received this mission it had been the last thing she had wanted, love was the last thing she had expected to find. Yet amongst all this death and destruction, that is what she had found.

THE DAY OF THE ATTACK

Grace walked onto the bridge of her Baseship. The attack was underway and she was keen to see how things were progressing.

"How is it looking?" she asked.

"Better than we even imagined." A 5 replied.

"The code your sister installed into their mainframe is working wonderfully." 2 said.

"Good, we've been waiting a long time for this." Grace said.

"Now this is interesting." 1 said from behind them all. They all turned to see him listening to a conversation and reading something.

"What is it?" 2 asked.

"The Hybrid has intercepted a call between the Admiral of the Colonial fleet and his CAG."

"So?" 5 asked.

"So his name triggered the watch list that one of our spies put together. Captain Mark Hunter, they call him Archangel. I've just been reading his "sealed" records and I must say they are rather interesting, even I am finding myself to be impressed with him." 1 replied.

They all began to read the file, each of them looking more and more surprised as they read.

"He seems capable of massive destruction." 5 said.

"So what, he is a human, I thought we came here to kill them all." Grace replied.

"We were but I am starting to think we could have a little fun with this one. His Admiral has told him to try and get to Caprica as it will be his best chance of rescue. I say we let him try and get there and put in a few games along the way to see if this file is as accurate as it says." 1 said.

"And how are we going to keep track of him while we're wiping out his race?" Grace asked.

"We send someone to go with him." 2 answered.

"That is a very good idea." 1 replied "And while were at it if we send the right Cylon we can see how our problem of reproduction is when it's one human and one Cylon."

Grace suddenly realised all eyes were suddenly turning to her.

"You can't be serious?" she exclaimed, "There is no way."

"I think you will be the perfect choice. Your hatred of the humans should make things more interesting." 5 said.

"We agree." 2 said.

"So do we." 1 added "Get prepared for a little trip to Sagittaron."

Grace tried to protest but no one would listen.

PRESENT DAY

Everyone was sat together eating a meal before they moved out.

"I've looked ahead at the terrain and it should be a straight forward walk to the valley." Michaels said.

"When we get there we should find a path that leads down the side to the bottom, there we'll find the entrance to the base." Archangel said.

"Sounds straight forward enough." Mantill said.

"Don't jinx us man!" Skeeter said.

"Sorry." Mantill replied putting his attention back onto his food.

"If we run into any Cylons it will be business as usual. We put them down and keep going regardless. We have to get into that base if we want to get out of here." Archangel said.

"What can we expect from Caprica?" Sarah asked.

"More of the same. I would imagine it will be worse than here. We need to find somewhere we can make a camp and wait to get picked up."

"Sorry to ask the obvious but what if we don't get "picked up"?" Mike asked in his usual cold way.

"Then we make the best of what we find." Vannick answered.

"I'll wait for you guys outside." Archangel said getting up and picking up his pack. As he walked outside he took a look at the scenery. This could be the last time he ever saw his home planet and part of him was a little sad for that.

"You okay?" Grace asked as she walked up behind him.

Archangel put her arm round her and kissed her forehead, "Yes I am. Just taking one final look around before we leave."

"You sound confident."

"I am."

Sometime later the group were under way towards their destination.

"You know I'm actually gonna miss this place." Skeeter said.

"I hate this planet." Mike replied under his breath.

"I hate Caprica!" Archangel said in reply which made the others laugh.

Grace watched them as she walked. The mood was good, it had been for days. When she thought about the last thirty days and what she had experienced she knew now that she was a different woman. She almost felt, human.

"Well I agree with Skeeter, I have a lot of good memories from here." Grace said.

"Yeah just none of them from recent days." Mantill added.

"Actually there have been quite a lot recently. If nothing else the Cylons brought me to you guys, so in a fraked up way, I'm kind of grateful to them." She took hold of Archangel's hand as she spoke.

"Me too." He said to her.

As the trees began to thin out the mountains came into view, in front of them they could see Angel Valley. The longest and in places deepest dry riverbed on the planet. It was an impressive sight for anyone to behold.

"Wow." Vannick said.

"No kidding." Archangel added.

"It shouldn't take us much longer, the trail more or less takes us to the path down to the bottom." Michaels said.

"Well lead the way." Archangel said.

It didn't take them long to reach the end of the trail and to see the magnificent view in front of them. Angel Valley ran for hundreds of miles along the continent. For as long as there had been Colonials on the planet it had been dry. During the summer the area was packed with tourists taking one of the many trails along the riverbed. No one however came this far. The airbase was the only thing for miles and if you didn't know it was there then it would have been quite easy to miss. They walked to the top of the path.

"Vannick take Michaels and the others down to the bottom. Use the code I gave you to get in. We'll be right behind, just want to make sure the area is clear first."

"No problem." He replied.

"This really is quite magnificent." Grace said.

"Like I tell everyone who will listen, this planet is the most beautiful place in the colonies."

As they took a few minutes to look at the scenery for the last time the silence was broken by the voice of a woman they didn't know.

"FRAKING RUN CENTURIANS ARE COMING!"

THE DAY OF THE ATTACK

Grace sat in the back of a Heavy Raider on the hanger deck of the base ship. A ruck sack in front of her she was not pleased with the group's decision.

"This is a mistake." She protested.

"Maybe but we have all decided." 1 replied.

"Everyone but me." She said.

"Yes but your sister models agreed with the rest of us. This could be a very interesting time for you. You get to see first hand how the human filth lives, you will get to feel new emotions that you don't even know about."

Grace stared at the 1 in front of her, wanting to rip the smug smile from across his face.

"All I ask is when this is over I get to be the one who kills him."

"Of course, call it a perk of the job."

Grace managed a smile.

"Are you familiar enough with your cover?"

"My name is Grace Dent, I am a dentist from Leonis who is on Saggitaron because I love the mountains."

"Excellent. Feel free to make any embellishments to the story that you see fit."

Another 6 and an 8 boarded the ship and headed to the cockpit.

"Are we ready to go?" 8 asked.

"Of course my dear." 1 replied.

As the back of the heavy raider closed the thought that this was a bad idea grew stronger in her gut. At the same time there was the beginnings of a sense of intrigue. She had never seen a human face to face before, she never really thought that she would have the chance. She may as well try and find some kind of pleasant outcome to all of this, the thought of killing this human at the end would have to do.

As the raider flew through space Grace walked to the cockpit and saw Saggitaron for the first time. Besides the nuclear clouds it was quite a beautiful place. Here come the human emotions she thought, great, one more thing she could do without. She had never had any interest in feeling them and now she was going to and any choice of it had been taken away from her. As they passed through the atmosphere she could see the mountainous horizon and hated that she found it impressive to look at.

"The sooner this is over the better." She said to herself.

Minutes later they had touched down, unseen by anyone who was left to see. As they looked down below Grace saw the town of Freedom for the first time. Nothing at all special, it was like any backwater town on any of the 12 worlds.

"His home is 2 miles east, you can't miss it it's the only one up here." 1 said.

"Still no way I can talk you out of this stupid decision?" Grace asked.

1 smiled at her, "At least try and find something to enjoy."

Grace scowled at him before turning and walking away. She didn't even turn to look back, all she wanted to do when she looked at 1 was choke him to death and she didn't think that would be the best way to start this "mission" off. As she reached the end of the 2 mile walk she saw the house in front of her.

"Here goes nothing." She said to herself before she took a deep breath. She began to walk down the hill towards the back of the house. Half way down she lost her footing and slipped a couple of feet down the hill.

"Frak." She said to herself as she looked down at her now bleeding ankle. She knew from the medical knowledge she had that it was okay and nowhere near as bad as it looked. She got herself back to her feet and limped towards the back door of the house. After climbing the steps the handle was locked. She stopped herself from smashing the window and decided to go look round the front of the house instead. As she reached the front door it was open, she took a deep breath and headed inside.

"Hello." She said as she walked inside, "Is there anyone here?"

A few silent moments passed before she realised there was no one there. Frak she though, what if they had already gone? Well 1 would have to come back for her and she could go back to the comfort of the base ship. She walked to the kitchen and sat down on one of the chairs. After taking out her little first aid kit she heard a noise at the front door. The game was about to begin now, whether she wanted it to or not.

PRESENT DAY

Lieutenant Bria "Typhoon" Thirren ran at full pelt. She had to make it. 30 days on her own were not going to end with her being gunned down by some toasters when she was this close to getting to a raptor. She turned and fired her last three rounds blindly behind her. As she dived through the undergrowth ahead she saw 2 men and a woman standing at the top of the path in front of her.

"FRAKING RUN CENTURIANS ARE COMING!" she yelled at the top of her lungs.

Archangel and Skeeter saw the four Cylons seconds before they opened fire. Their volley of bullets was relentless and wild. Skeeter took out two of the Cylons with his shotgun. Bria took a clip from Archangel's belt and opened fire with them. Moments later it was all over.

"Whoa thanks for the help there but we have to move there are more of them on their way." Bria said.

"Who are you?" Archangel asked.

"Lieutenant Bria Thirren."

"I'm Captain Mark Hunter."

"Pleased to meet you Captain."

"Pleasure is all mine." He replied.

"Archangel." Skeeter said.

As he turned round all the air drained from his body. Grace lay on the top of the path, blood pouring from the 6 bullet wounds in her torso. Archangel quickly moved over to her and cradled her in his arms.

"Oh gods no. DOCTOR!" he yelled, "You're going to be okay." He said frantically, "DOCTOR!"

Grace looked up at him and tried to smile. "I love you." She managed to say.

"I love you too but it's gonna be okay, just need the doc and you'll be okay."

"Archangel we have to get out of here." Skeeter said.

The sound of centurions could be heard in the distance. Grace smiled up at Archangel and touched his face as she died. Tears began to well in his eyes inside he felt pure rage.

"Archangel we have to go." Skeeter said.

He didn't respond he held Grace to him and cried.

"MARK we have to go, now." Skeeter said putting his hand on his friends shoulder. Now the coming Cylons could be heard a lot louder. Without saying a word he picked her up and began to run with the others down the path. Moments later they reached the bottom. Vannick stood in the door way was the first to see Archangel with Grace's lifeless body in his arms.

"Oh gods no. Man I'm so sorry." He said.

"We have to move there are centurions on our six." Bria said.

Inside the huge base sat 3 raptors waiting for the survivors. Brian closed the door behind them and shot out the electronic lock sealing them in.

"What happened?" Michaels asked as the doctor moved into look at Grace.

"Cylons, they were chasing me here." Bria replied.

"Everyone get onboard we have to go." Archangel said. He lay Grace down in the back of the Raptor. He dried his eyes and sat down in the cockpit. No one spoke, the shock of Grace's death seemed to have hit everyone the same.

"Do you know how to do an ECO's job?" Archangel asked.

"I am an ECO she replied. Where are we going?"

"Plot a jump from Sagittaron's orbit to Caprica's?" he said.

"Caprica?" she exclaimed.

"Yes Caprica."

"Yes sir." She replied as she began to type the coordinates in.

Skeeter came up and sat next to him.

"Mark I'm so sorry." He said.

"Not now." Archangel replied. As the raptor's systems came online he saw the chain cannons on the wings were fully armed. He turned the safeties off and prepared for take off.

"Okay we're set." Bria said.

Archangel remotely opened the hanger doors as the craft began to take off. Outside a dozen centurions were waiting. Archangel opened fire taking them all out with the heavy shells of the Raptor's cannons. As they moved off into the sky dradis began to beep.

"We have six enemy contacts bearing down on us. They will be in range in 45 seconds. We are 1 minute away from jump." Bria said.

Archangel said nothing. The Raptor headed out of the riverbed and upwards towards the sky.

"You're all going to want to hold on." Archangel said, "Things are going to be rough."

The civilians in the back all looked terrified. All the warning sounds blazing around them.

"It's going to be okay." Vannick tried to assure them. But with Grace's body in front of them, non of them were reassured.

"Contact in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1." As Brian stopped speaking the sound of enemy fire could be heard very close to the Raptor. Archangel with expert ease wove the Raptor away from the enemy rounds.

"Jump in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1." Bria said.

The Raptor jumped. As it reappeared inside Caprica's atmosphere it took all of Archangels strength and skill to keep the craft steady.

"Frak me." He said as the force pushed him back into his seat.

Out of nowhere the Raptor clipped a raider sending it into a spin.

"Hold on we're going down." Archangel said. As he managed to level out the Raptor Pilgrim Bay started to come into view below. Just as he managed to slow down the ship it hit the shallow water in the cove.

"Everyone okay?" Bria asked. Everyone nodded.

"Okay lets move. Vannick, Skeeter there should be first aid kits and weapons in the locker at the back, everyone else out." Archangel said.

He picked up Grace and walked out into the shallow water with the others. The sight of Pilgrim Bay would usually have been a sight to behold, today it may as well have been the sight of a thousand Cylons as far as Archangel was concerned. As he looked down at Grace the feeling of rage and moved to a feeling of total emptiness. As the moved onto the shore raiders could be heard over hear.

"Blow it." Archangel said. "It might buy us a little time."

Vannick took out one of the rocket launchers and fired blowing the downed Raptor to pieces.

They had been walking for hours. Archangel just kept going with Grace in his arms, he couldn't stop, and if he did he feared he would never get up again.

"Somebody has to talk to him." Ramok said.

"I will." Skeeter said. He quickly jogged ahead to his friend.

"Buddy we have to stop for a while." Skeeter said, "Find somewhere to stop before it gets dark."

"I can't." Archangel replied quietly. "I can't stop."

Skeeter stepped in front of him making him stop. "You have to. Mark we have to lay her to rest."

Archangel looked down again at the woman he loves and broke down falling to his knees, Grace still in his arms. He gently laid her on the ground. Skeeter put his arms around his friend.

"It'll be okay, remember that's what you told me. It will be okay." Skeeter said.

"I can't do this anymore." He said, "I'm ready to give up and die."

"I know you do but you can't." Skeeter wiped a tear away from his own eye, "because we need you."

Archangel turned to see the others a few feet away looking over at him with shared pain and sympathy in their eyes. Ramok walked over to them.

"My friend we must give her to the gods. Let her rest with her family now. Let me take her and prepare her."

Archangel lifted her head and kissed her before Ramok picked her up and took her under the covers of the trees, once he had laid her down he began to say prayers for her.

"How did you manage?" Archangel asked.

"I don't." Skeeter replied. "When she died, it was the worst time of my life. If it wasn't for you I would have either been dead or in prison."

As night fell they all stood around Grace's grave.

"Lord of Kobol hear our prayers. Take the soul of Grace Dent into your arms and guide her into her afterlife. Let her rest in eternal peace with her family and friends who have gone before her. She was a brave woman who fought hard for her friends since the fall of mankind. Let her heroism be remembered by those of us who survive. Let her love live on in the heart of the man that she loved. Until we meet her again keep her safe and let her watch over us and keep us safe in the days to come." Ramok said.

All the survivors sat around a fire as they ate a meal.

"It was horrible, I've never seen anything like it. It was over so quickly." Bria said.

"What happened?" Vannick asked.

"The fleet were all together, ready for the counter attack. Most of the fleet, thousands of Vipers, Raptors, Gunstars we were ready to throw everything we had at them. Then everything stopped. They flipped a switch and 99.9% of everyone just stopped. They launched missiles and that was it, it was all over."

"How did you survive?" Michaels asked.

"Our Raptor just kept going, maybe because we were in need of an overhaul, we weren't in a new Raptor. Before we knew what was happening there were hundreds of raiders coming at us. I typed in the first co-ordinates I could find and we jumped here. We crashed on the planet and managed to get out before the cylons found us. A couple of days later we were in a hospital getting some anti rads when they found us. Jackhammer was killed then and there, his brains were blown all over me. I ran as fast as I could and I've been running all the way to the airbase ever since." Her youthful features and her beauty were replaced by sadness when she mentioned her pilot Jackhammer.

"What Battlestar were you from?" Archangel asked.

"Aries, I saw it blow up right in front of me. I'm sorry to tell you that the Atlantia went up first." She said.

"How did you know I was from the Atlantia?" he replied.

"Are you kidding? You're Archangel, every pilot in the fleet knows who you are. I saw you with the display team once, wow, I've never seen anyone fly a Viper like that." She replied, "You're a legend."

"On your own for all this time though that's impressive. We've struggled being in a group." Vannick said.

A group of Cylons sat around a resurrection tank containing the body of a 6.

"She's downloading." 2 said.

Grace's consciousness began to come into her new body. A flash of Archangel's records, his home on Saggitaron followed by the first time she saw him. The first time they kissed followed by choking Hackerson in his office. Lots of fast flashes of Archangel followed by her beating Danny to death, "I'm sorry," she said. Followed by walking to the path leading to the airbase, Cylon Centurions shooting her and then a flash of an unborn foetus.

As Grace's new body gasped to life she screamed at the top of her lungs, "I was pregnant."

The smiles of her fellow Cylons dropped as they heard her words, what had they done.

"God will never forgive us for this." 2 said.

"What have you done?" Grace said as she began to cry

Archangel stood alone with one of his sidearms in his hand and was looking out onto the horizon.

"I can't do this any more," he said to himself, "I was doing it for you. I can't go on without you. What's the fraking point."

He ejected the magazine on his gun to make sure it was loaded before putting a round into the chamber. He took several deep breaths before putting his gun to the side of his head as tears began to stream down his face.

"Can I interrupt?" Ramok said as he walked up to Archangel.

He lowered his weapon and turned to the preacher.

"Sure why not." He replied.

"That would have been a drastic step to take." Ramok said.

"Why I have nothing left to live for. You guys have Bria now, you don't need me."

"I think your best friend would have something to say about that. These people are alive because of you. You've saved all our lives how many times now. What would you say if you found out she was a Cylon?"

"What the frak are you talking about?"

"I mean what would you say then. You could see her again then you killing yourself would be for nothing, you wouldn't see her in any afterlife."

"She wasn't a Cylon."

"But if she was?"

"Then I wouldn't care. She loved me no matter what she was, human or cylon and I love her."

"Then do what you promised to her and the rest of us, save us."

Archangel holstered his weapon and sat down, Ramok sat next to him.

"You know if we were found I was going to leave the military and make a life with her. I've never wanted any other life that wasn't in the fleet until I met her. She made me feel alive. It took the end of the world for me to find her and now she's gone."

"All I'm going to say is if no one else you have to think of Skeeter. Not only has he lost your friend Danny now he has lost Grace as well, I don't think he could take loosing you again. Do one thing for me, give us some more time, give life some more time."

Archangel looked over and saw Skeeter talking to Bria.

"Okay."


	6. Home Sweet Home

DAY 34

Grace had never felt lonely on a baseship before. Their whole concept reminded her of fleas on a dog, the way they lived and existed on the ship. When she left a month ago she hated humans and would have been the first cylon in line to fire the first bomb, now she was back and she couldn't feel more differently. She hated her own people, not only had they robbed her of the man she loved they had robbed them both of their unborn baby. If stepping out of an airlock would end the pain she felt she would do it but it would only end up in another body and probably boxed for her troubles. As she walked onto the bridge she was met by one of her sister models.

"How are you today?" 6 asked her.

Grace put on a smile with her reply, "Better today thank you." She lied.

1 came up to her with his usual smug smile, "6 I'm so glad to hear you are starting to feel better. We look forward to you being able to get back to your work."

"I was going to talk to you about moving down to Caprica." Grace replied.

"That wouldn't be because of a certain pilot would it?" 1 replied.

"Of course not. I want to get back to doing what I was meant to do in the first place." She replied.

"Well we've all been talking and we agree that you should go down to the planet. You need something to help take your mind of recent, tragedies." 1 said.

It took all of Grace's self control not to tear out 1's throat with her bare hands.

"A heavy raider will be ready to take you down this afternoon."

Skeeter woke up and felt quite rested. The last couple of days had taken their toll on everyone. They had managed to stay in the same location for a couple of days but Michaels had found them an easily defendable location they were moving too later. He rubbed his eyes as he sat up. He saw Bria, Vannick and Michaels sat talking over a cup of morning coffee. He reached into his bag and took out a cigarette, which he immediately lit. As he looked to his side he saw a piece of paper laying next to him with his name written on it. He picked it up and began to read it.

"Oh frak." He said to himself.

He stood up and headed over to the others.

"Archangel's gone." He said.

"What do you mean he's gone?" Vannick replied.

"He left me a letter he's gone to his parents home to try and find them."

"Will he come back?" Bria asked.

He nodded his head in reply, "I should have seen this coming."

"Where do they live?"

"Oasis, it's going to take him a couple of days to get there and back. He'll be back."

Being on his own was helping Archangel to calm himself. So far he had come across one centurion and had no problem at all in dealing with it. Caprica had taken a lot more damage than Saggitaron. He had come across a fire someone had made but it had been out for a long time now. He had always hated Caprica since the day his parents told him they were moving. He could see the Cathedral in Oasis in the distance. It was the largest building in the town and it was a little impressive sight, even for him. It was still going to take him a few hours to get there. A few more hours alone with his thoughts. He had no idea what he was going to find, even though he really wanted to see them he doubted very much that his parents would be there. Just being in their home would be enough for him for now though, just being there, he hoped would make him feel better. He had been hard on himself recently for not spending more time with them, it had been nearly a year since he had seen them and that was only for a day when he had been promoted.

1 YEAR BEFORE THE FALL

Archangel sat in his Viper as it flew through space. His wingman Lieutenant Mal "Whirlwind" Thomas, as usual was putting the worlds to rights as only he could.

"Still can't believe the sea bucks lost again. I thought when they made Anders captain things might look up but my gods could they get any worse?"

Archangel sighed to himself.

"To be honest as I was yesterday when we had this conversation then I am still a Saggitaron Raiders fan and as we just beat the Bucks I don't really care how shit they are."

Mal seemed shocked, Archangel knew it was all for effect, he had had the same reaction yesterday.

"Oh of course your mind is on the new job coming up." Mal replied, "Well don't worry about it as I am convinced the new CAG of the Battlestar Atlantia will be yours truly."

"Well we find out this afternoon."

"Gentlemen we have you on dradis and if you're ready to stop whining about the Bucks Whirlwind the starboard hanger bay is clear for you both to land." Major Hans Ritter said over the comm., "Your speed is both 150 call the ball."

"This is Whirlwind, speed 150 I have the ball."

"This is Archangel my speed is also 150 I have the ball."

Whirlwind turned and pulled a moronic face as they flew in.

The Hanger bay of the Atlantia was bustling with life as usual. Whirlwind as usual was already out of his plane and waiting for Archangel.

"The XO is on her way down here, apparently they've made a decision." He said like a hyperactive child.

Archangel walked down the ladder off his ship, he was a mixture of excited and extremely nervous. Three years of hard work and putting everything else in his life second. They both saw Colonel Philip Black, the ships XO walk onto the deck.

"Here we go, may the best man win." Mal said.

Archangel shook his hand. They both waited where they were and watched as the XO walked over to them

"Gentlemen." He said.

"Sir." They both said as they saluted him.

"At ease. The old man has asked me to escort you to his quarters, he's made his decision on who gets the job."

The walk to Admiral Negala's office seemed to last a lifetime, all the time Archangel couldn't get what was about to happen out of his head. As much as he would be happy for his friend he still would be disappointed. When they reached his quarters he was sitting behind his desk.

"Please gentlemen sit down." He said.

Both men sat down. Mal had a huge stupid grim across his face while Archangel looked very nervous.

"I'm going to cut to the chase. It's been a tough choice, both of you have qualities that would make you both excellent CAG's but I have made a choice. Archangel I'm pleased to inform you that you are the ships new CAG."

He couldn't help the smile on his face, Mal patted his friend on the shoulder.

"Well done." He said.

"Congratulations Captain I know you won't let me down." He shook Archangel's hand, "Also Mal I am pleased to inform you that I have decided to make you the new squadron XO."

"What? What happened to Black Ball?" he asked.

"She's been taken the position of CAG on the Triton. Now Admiral Corman and Neevak along with myself have decided that due to all your hard work we are going to officially promote you at a ceremony next week."

Archangel had not expected this and was a little embarrassed, "Erm thank you."

"I've already invited your family as well as a couple of your friends for the ceremony."

Archangel visibly cringed which made the Admiral smile. On occasion making his men cringe made him smile!

Grace sat in her quarters while she waited for the heavy raider to take her down to the planet. Being alone in the quiet made things a little easier to deal with. She had found herself putting her hand on her stomach over the past couple of days, the death of her unborn child had left her with a bigger hole than the loss of Archangel. Suddenly she became aware someone else was in the room with her. She opened her eyes to see another 6 standing in the doorway.

"May I speak with you?" 6 asked.

Grace nodded her head and the 6 walked in and sat by her.

"I was so terribly sorry to hear of your loss."

"Thank you." Grace said.

"I wanted to fill you in on some news I wasn't sure if you were aware of."

More idle gossip. Before the attack she had never known her people to care about things like this before, now there were whispers everywhere about the little things that were happening, the things that were not important.

"An 8 has turned her back on us." The 6 said.

This Grace did not expect, "Why?" she asked.

"A man she was asked to watch over." 6 replied.

Grace was unsure how to react to this news. Was this a trap to see how she reacted?

"What happened?" Grace asked.

"A pilot from one of the Battlestars that survived, he was stranded here on the day of the attack. We found that his co-pilot had been an 8 so they sent one in to frak with him. It seems she fell in love and has cut off all contact, now they are on the run."

This was news she didn't know. "What are the others doing about it?"

"Searching for them. 1 wants them found before they could be rescued. There is a Battlestar still somewhere in the system that is running regular rescue missions."

This was news she wanted to hear. If she could find them, she too could get away.

"Also the 8, she is now pregnant."

This hit Grace like a wall. She was lost for words.

"I thought you should know this. Some of your sister models we are not happy with 1 and his hold over us. Things are not happening how they were promised. There is also whispers of Cylons who believe we were wrong in what we have done." 6 stood up and kissed Grace on the forehead before placing a folded up piece of paper into her hand before she walked off.

When 6 had left the room Grace opened the paper, there were coordinates on it and a date, 2 days from today.

"So what are we going to do?" Mantill asked.

"We wait for him to get back." Skeeter replied.

"We wait, like sitting ducks for someone who may not even come back? Are you so stupid?" Mantill added.

Skeeter dived on the man punching him hard in the mouth. He held Mantill by the throat.

"We wait till he gets back." Skeeter said through gritted teeth.

Vannick took hold of Skeeters arm making him release his grip on the doctor's throat.

"You keep your fraking hands off me." Mantill said.

"Then watch your fraking mouth, we're alive because of him. If any of you want to leave go, frak off, I'll wait by myself." Skeeter said.

"You're a fraking fool." Mantill replied.

As Skeeter turned to go for him again. Bria fired her sidearm into the air.

"For fraks sake all of you calm down and shut up." She holstered her weapon and stood between the two men. "Unless we're found we wait. Archangel said to wait for his return so we wait. Mike has been working on a tracker that detects Cylons when they get close. How far away are you from completing it?"

Mike looked up from his work. Nothing even fazed him, despite he was only 17 years old he was a mechanical genius. As the others had found out over the last couple of days however he had no people skills whatsoever.

"Well Lieutenant if people would stop shouting so I could concentrate it would be closer to completion." He replied.

"All I want is an ETA." Bria replied.

"The end of the day. We will be able to detect them from 500 metres away, not just Cylons I've tweaked it to detect people as well." He replied without even looking up.

"Then we at least wait till it's completed. If anyone doesn't want to wait then go, no one is stopping you." Bria said looking over at the doctor.

"And who put you in charge?" Mantill asked.

"The Lieutenant speaks for me." Vannick said.

"Me too." Skeeter added.

"Listen going anywhere is suicide. We owe Archangel the decency of waiting for him. I'm staying too." Michaels said.

Mike didn't speak he just gave Michaels a thumbs up.

"Dr Mantill I think you need to take a deep breath and sit down. We need to stick together in order to survive. If we start fighting amongst ourselves and splinter apart the Cylons will have no problem at all in killing us." Ramok said, "Listen to Bria."

Mantill turned and walked away mumbling under his breath.

"Thank you." Bria said. She turned and walked over to Skeeter, "You okay?"

"Yeah I'm sorry it's just been a rough few days." He replied as he lit a cigarette.

"I understand that. Just keep your cool. I need you and Vannick to keep it together, especially if we're attacked. If you two aren't on your game we're all dead." She replied,

"No problem, I'm okay."

"And you're right, he'll be back."

It had been a long time since Archangel had been to Oasis. Although it hadn't been hit as hard as other places they had been, there were still clear signs the Cylons had been there. Bullet casings as well as bullet holes in walls. There were streaks of blood splattered in certain places as well. Archangel was trying to keep out of sight as much as possible. It was the first time he had noticed the silence. Other than the wind there was nothing. As he reached the main street which he had to cross it hit him the hardest. The children's play area was deserted. Shop windows smashed and cars burned out. He reached as far as he could with the cover he had. He checked as far as he could through his binoculars, nothing. He took a deep breath before taking a step into the street. He remembered the first time he had seen this street. He had been a 16 year old boy and had fought his parents every step of the way. He still hated Caprica, more so than before. As he reached the other side he walked down the alleyway to take him towards the street his parents had lived on. He stopped in his tracks when he saw two decaying bodies in front of him. They had clearly died holding onto each other. As he got closer he felt a wave of relief, even through the decay he could tell it wasn't his parents. He took a deep breath and continued walking. In the distance he could see a Cylon raider flying in the opposite direction. He kept on walking.

As the heavy raider left the Base Ship Grace couldn't see anything of Caprica through the nuclear fallout. There were dozens of other Base Ships that she could see. She wondered how Archangel and the others would ever be able to get off world, never mind any rescue ships getting through. She did have hope though, if anyone could do it she knew he could.

"Must be nice getting back to your original job?" the 8 flying the raider asked.

"It seems like a lifetime ago I was supposed to be on Caprica." She replied.

As they broke through the fallout Grace could see her destination. Caprica's biggest Farm. The guilt of what went on in these facilities hit her hard. What made it worse was that she was supposed to be running it, that had always been her position. Unlike other 6s she had been given all the medical knowledge that a 4 would usually have. As the raider touched down she was met by a 4.

"6 it's good to finally meet you." The 4 said holding out his hand.

Grace took it and shook it, "I never thought I would actually get here."

"I here you did good work with the humans." He said as they walked into the facility.

"I'm not here to talk about the past." She coldly replied, "How are things progressing here?"

"Very well. We have 400 women here all in various stages of impregnation." 4 said.

Grace knew what she was going to do here. She had to make up for what her people were doing here.

"Would you like a tour of the grounds?" 4 asked.

"Please." Grace replied.

Most of the building was uninteresting. As he led her into the "populated" area the emotion hit her. All those women, all there against their will. It took everything she had to hold it together. She watched the 4 smiling and laughing as he spoke. As she passed a scalpel she picked it up and gripped it tightly. All she wanted to do was slit his throat from ear to ear. She put the blade into her jacket pocket and let out a slow deep breath. She would deal with him when she dealt with this abomination. As the tour finished he showed her to her living quarters and left her. She calmly walked over to the bed and placed her bag onto it. She calmly picked up the pillow held it in front of her face and screamed as loudly as she could into it. When she had finished her hands were shaking. Picking up the bag she opened it and smiled when she saw what was inside, enough explosives to wipe this place off the map.

As Archangel reached his parents home he stood in the driveway and looked at it. No matter what he said of Caprica he had fond memories of the two years he lived here before enrolling in the military. He walked down the long driveway to the back of the house. His fathers car was in the drive at the back of the house, he tried not to let that give him any hope that they might be there. He tried the handle on the back door but it was locked. Using his elbow he smashed the window on the door and reached through to open it. As he stepped into the Hunter family home he closed the door.

"MUM. DAD." He shouted. He waited for a reply that never came. He walked through the kitchen through the hallway and into the living room. On the coffee table was a sealed envelope with Mark written on the front. He placed his bag and rifle onto the sofa as he sat down and picked up the letter in both hands. For what seemed like an eternity he sat holding it, staring at his mothers handwriting before opening it up.

Son,

We knew you would make it here, unfortunately we will not be there to see you. We want you to know how proud you have made us. Everything you have ever done has been with such passion and dedication but we have never been amazed by anything you have accomplished. We knew no matter what you said you were going to do you would succeed, no matter what it was and we were always so proud of anything you did. You are such an amazing man.

Know that at the end we were all together and we are at peace with what is coming. We have all lead full lives and there are no regrets. We know you are not alone, you were on Sagitarron when this all began so we know you're at least with Skeeter and Danny and that gives me some peace of mind.

Know that we love you and know that we are all proud of you. We know you will have been taking out all the Cylons you have come across, all we ask is that you do not do anything too reckless. Stay alive, try and stay safe.

We know you love us and we all love you more than words can say.

Mum, Dad and Illum

Once again tears rolled down his face as he finished reading. He carefully folded the letter and put it back into the envelope before putting it in his bag. He looked up and smiled when he saw a photo of him with his family from when he made Captain.

1 YEAR BEFORE THE FALL

Archangel stood in his uniform waiting for Mal to finish getting ready. He had been dreading this since the old man told him what he was planning. He hated public spectacles like this, especially when he was the focus of them. They had docked at the Caprica Fleet Ship yards the day before and all he had wanted to do was run but he knew Negala would have had someone come and bring him straight back.

"Got your speech ready?" Mal asked sarcastically.

"He knows how much I'm gonna hate this." Archangel replied.

The outgoing CAG Captain Joanna May appeared at the door.

"Are you two not ready yet?" she asked.

"I am its just Mal holding us up as usual ma'am." Archangel replied.

"Please it's just Joanna now, anything else wouldn't seem right." She replied with a smile.

"Nice to know Joanna." Mal replied.

"It's still Captain or Ma'am to you. And in about an hour it will be Major."

"Yes ma'am." He replied with a joke salute.

"I'm so glad he's going to be your responsibility from now on."

"He's always gonna be SOMEONE's responsibility." Archangel replied.

"HEY!" Mal replied punching his friends in the arm.

"Anyway gentlemen there are people waiting for us."

The sectioned off hanger deck was full of people. Archangel didn't even recognise most of them. As he took his seat he saw his parents and brother wave to him. He then saw Skeeter and Danny both looking very smart sat with them. Danny waved at his friend beaming from ear to ear. He stopped when Skeeter said something quietly to him and then looked apologetic. A hush went over the hanger deck as Admiral Negala stood up and walked to the podium.

"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. Today is quite a day, the day we promote the youngest CAG in the history of the fleet. I first heard about Archangel when he was still in flight school. The buzz surrounding him was unlike any we had heard before. The first time I saw him fly was a few months later during a war game exercise. He was alone against ten of his fellow cadets, the aim they had to take him out before he got all ten of them. This is done every year with the best students in vipers and the one pilot by him or herself has never won, until that year. It took him less than five minutes to eliminate all of his enemy contacts. He performed maneouvers that I have never seen any other pilot produce. When he graduated he had already gained the reputation of being the best pilot Vipers had ever produced. He was given the opportunity to pick where he wanted to be stationed out of eight different Battlestars and I was delighted when he chose to serve about the Atlantia. Over the last three years he has worked tirelessly to prove himself worthy of this promotion. He hasn't let anything else get in his way and he fully deserves this promotion. Captain May as the outgoing CAG would you please give Captain Hunter his new rank pips."

Joanna saluted the Admiral before taking the pips from him. She turned to Archangel and removed his Lieutenant pips before replacing them with his new ones. She saluted him and he her.

"Ladies and gentlemen may I present to you not only the youngest CAG in colonial history but the youngest flagship CAG, Captain Mark Hunter." Negala said.

Everyone clapped, there were even a few cheers as he replaced the Admiral on the podium.

"Thank you. I've been wracking my brains for the last week trying to figure out what to say here. As those of you who know me know I'm not good with public attention like this. I've ignored a lot of you over the past three years and I've only had time for my career and for that I am sorry. But this is a dream for me. I want to say thanks to Admiral Negala you know how much I wanted this and I promise I won't let you down."

As he went to sit back down everyone clapped once again.

PRESENT DAY

Skeeter sat by himself smoking a cigarette. He had managed to calm down after the scuffle earlier in the day. Other than Vannick most of the others had left him alone, which he appreciated.

"Can I join you?" Bria asked.

"Sure take a seat." He offered her a cigarette as she sat.

"No thank you, it took me a long time to quit. You okay?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry about earlier. He had no right to talk about Archangel like that."

"I know but I don't think he'll ever see it like that. I think you're going to have to accept the fact that he likes the sound of his own voice and opinion a little too much."

Skeeter let out a laugh, "I think you're right there."

"I know everyone looks up to Archangel as the groups leader and I wanted to say thanks for getting behind me. You know I don't want to step on any toes if you think you should lead the group?"

"Me? Frak no, I'm too hot headed for that. I think you or Vannick are a way better choice than me. Vannick follows you so so do I."

"I meant what I said earlier about you and Vannick, if the shit hits the fan I'll be looking to you two to keep these guys alive."

"Don't worry I'm always ready to drop some toasters." Skeeter replied.

"It's finished." Mike said sitting down next to them. He handed Bria the small handheld pad. A small digital map of the area was on the screen.

"Wow this is impressive." Bria said.

Mike snatched it back from her, "If you press this button once it will show you any humans within 500 yards." A small green blip appeared for each of the survivors in the camp, "Press it again and it will show you any Cylons in the area. If there are any they will be red blips." Thankfully when he pressed it there were no contacts. He passed it back to Bria and then walked off.

"Good job he's a genius with all the people skills he has." Skeeter said sarcastically.

Bria laughed.

As Grace walked passed two centurions she wasn't used to not shooting at them yet. They just ignored her as she passed, she wondered what they would do if they knew about the sheet amount of explosives she had planted. As she headed to the door 4 appeared in front of her.

"Everything okay 6?"

"Everything is fine. I'm just going outside for some air, I'm still not used to being cooped up after being outside for so long." Grace replied.

"I'll walk with you." 4 replied.

"Of course." Grace put her hand around the handle of the scalpel in her pocket.

4 carried on talking as they walked. She had forgotten how all the 4's loved the sound of their own voice. It was taking all her control not to plunge the blade into his throat but she decided to bide her time.

"…. You seem distracted." Said to her.

"Sorry I'm still adjusting to this new body." She said placing her free hand over her stomach, "It's been a lot to adjust to."

"Is this your first download?" 4 asked.

Grace nodded her head, "Yes and I hope it's the last."

"We have to be careful here, there are a lot of people still alive who would jump at the chance of killing us." 4 said.

"I bet there are."

"There is a group of resistance fighters somewhere. They keep striking but we cannot seem to find them. Still it's only a matter of time now."

Grace noticed they had walked a safe distance so she could set off the bombs.

"There is just one thing I need to do." Grace said as she took her free hand and pressed the detonator in her pocket. The whole farm went up in one giant magnificent explosion. As 4 turned to face her she took the blade and plunged it into his throat before ripping it back out. As he gurgled for air Grace let the rage take her over.

"Tell 1 and the others that I will never forgive them for what they have done to me. I am ashamed to call you my people and I won't stop till you are all dead." As she finished speaking she repeatedly stabbed him in the throat and chest until he stopped moving. As she stood up she dropped the blade and spat on 4's lifeless body before turning and walking off. She breathed a sigh of relief and managed to smile to herself a little as she walked away.

Archangel felt clean for the first time in weeks. His father had always had a sealed tank of water in the back garden and he had used it to take a shower. He smiled to himself as he walked into his brother's room, it was it's usual chaotic mess. He had always said there was order to his chaos yet he could never find anything that he wanted. Archangel took a picture of the wall of he and his brother from when he had been promoted, he would definitely be taking that with him when he left. He also picked up several photo albums and put them into a pile on his brother's bed. Hung on the front of his wardrobe were his brothers Caprica Buccaneers and Sagittaron Raiders jerseys. On the back of each was their surname printed with the number 1. He took another look around the room and smiled to himself before walking back downstairs. It had begun to get dark outside so he lit a couple of candles. With the photographs he had already taken from his parents he managed to squeeze everything into his bag. He opened the bottle of beer he had found. He had chilled it in some cold water in the kitchen sink and took a long swig from the cold bottle.

"Here's to you guys." He said looking over at one of the photos. He finished the beer before blowing out the candles and lying down on the sofa. Sleep came quickly for the first time since the attack. As he drifted into his slumber he was unaware he was being watched. Grace stood by the front window watching Archangel as he slept. She wiped away a tear from her face and touched the window. All she wanted to do was walk inside and wake him but she knew she couldn't. In time he might accept her for what she was but not now, it was far too soon. She kissed her hand and pressed it to the window before turning and walking away.

1, 4 and a 6 walked around the ruins of what had once been the biggest farm on Caprica.

"How did we not see this coming?" 4 asked.

"Because she has learned how to lie and lie convincingly." 1 replied, "This is becoming a habit, first an 8 and now a 6."

"We had no idea this would happen, but we agree with 4, we should have seen this coming."

"Is there any sign of her at all?" 1 asked.

"No she's gone, there's a chance she's been picked up by the colonials." 6 said.

"We'll find her, eventually. Till then our experiment is definitely over I want Archangel and all his friends dead, they've cost us too much already as it is." 1 said.

Archangel had slept very well indeed. As he put his pack on his back he walked out of his family home for what would be the last time, turned off the safety on his rifle and started the long walk back to the others. As he reached the end of the driveway he stopped dead in his tracks. Facing him at the other end of the street was a 5 with six centurions flanking him. The 5 smiled and waved before the centurions opened fire.


	7. Stumble

DAY 36

The rain had returned on Caprica and was falling heavier than before. A 5 staggered through the undergrowth covered in blood with a bullet hole in his shoulder. As he walked into a clearing he stopped to catch his breath. He had not expected how hard one human would be to kill. So far Archangel had evaded him for a day, popping up every now and again to take out a centurion or to injure him further. He knew that the human was playing with him but he was determined to kill him. He held his gun tightly and wiped the rain from his face with the other hand. As he turned around Archangel dived at him from the undergrowth and lunged his knife into 5's throat. 5 dropped his weapon and fell to his knees.

"I don't care how many of you there are I will not stop till all of you on my colonies are dead." He said before tearing the knife from 5's throat. He stood and watched as the life drained away from the Cylon. Archangel bent over and wiped the blood off his knife on 5's shirt before turning and walking away. He moved back under the cover of the undergrowth as he knew there were at least 5 centurions in the area. They he thought, were next.

Skeeter came too with a sharp pain in the side of his head. As he got his bearings he was at the bottom of a steep hill with no recollection of how he got there. It all started to slowly come back to him, they had been attacked by Cylons and he had fallen during the fight. He wavered a little as he got to his feet and had to steady himself a little. He picked up his bag and put it on his back and picked up his shotgun. He put his hand to the side of his head and felt a sharp pain, as he brought his hand down he saw it was covered in blood.

"Well that's just great." He began to walk back up the hillside. When he reached the top he had the horrible sensation that he had no idea where he was.

"Frak." He continued to walk in the direction they had been going before he fell. They had been heading towards the new camp Michaels had found. They were going to wait till Archangel returned but there had been no sign of him when the Cylons had found them.

"I'm going back." Vannick said picking up his rifle.

"Vannick I need you to stay here." Bria replied, "Skeeter knew where we were heading he'll find us."

"What if he's injured and can't make it?" Vannick said.

"If he's not here by the morning I'll go back." Michaels said.

"We can't let anyone else get divided." Bria replied.

"Better me than Vannick." Michaels replied.

"Lets just give him a chance to catch up." Bria replied as she sat down in the large cave in their new camp.

"Did anyone actually see what happened?" Vannick asked.

"One minute he was firing at a centurion, the next time I looked up he was gone and there were more of them appearing behind us." Ramok replied.

"He can handle himself, he'll be okay." Bria said.

"The important part is we're safe now." Mantill said.

"I swear to gods if you start again." Vannick said clearly getting adjitated.

"Corporal, that's enough." Bria snapped.

"Sorry." He said sitting down.

As the wooded area Skeeter had been walking through started to thin out he realised he had gone in the wrong direction. In front of him there were a series of shops on the outskirts of a small town. He saw a department store in front of him and headed over that way, he needed to clean himself up and find a map. As he walked into the clear he was aware if there were any Cylons there would be nowhere for him to hide. Every time he tried to jog his whole body hurt but being out in the open for too long was too much for him. When he reached the doors they were locked shut. He walked along to a window a little further from view before smashing it. He breathed a sigh of relief when he stepped in out of the rain. He walked over to one of the drinks fridges which had been off for weeks and took out a bottle of water and downed it in one. As he finished he looked up and saw the sign for the toilets and headed into them. Once inside he saw the extent of the cut on his head, it was nowhere near as bad as he had originally feared. He wiped the blood away and then took out his first aid kit and wiped the wound clear before putting a sticking plaster over it. He stood and looked at himself in the mirror and almost didn't recognise the person looking back at him. Due to the nature of his job he usually had grease or oil from an engine all over him but he was generally always clean shaved. The beard he had grown over the last few weeks he didn't like.

"I think I'm gonna have to do something about this." He said to himself.

Archangel checked his compass, he was heading in the right direction, that was if they were still where he had left them when we went to Oasis. He assumed they would have moved on to the new camp Michaels had found for them but he had to check the old one first, just in case. The pass he had to walk across which was flanked one side by a hillside and the other by a 50ft sheer drop concerned him but the way he had come had given him little option. He changed from walking to jogging as he wanted to get this part over with as quickly as he could. As he moved up the pass he heard the noise he had been dreading coming from behind him, the sound of a centurion moving quickly in his direction. He quickly changed to a sprint and found an outcrop of rocks he could hide behind. As he began to get himself into position he saw an entrance to a cave and moved inside. Inside there was a little light shining from a crack above and a nice breeze. Archangel sat by the entrance with his sidearm drawn, ready for any fight that may be coming. The Cylon was getting closer and closer and he braced himself, ready for action. Then it went straight past without even stopping. He let out a sigh of relief before cautiously going back outside. Quickly and silently he moved up the past. Then he saw it, 50ft in front of him the Cylon had stopped and had its back to him. He took a deep breath and raised his weapon high, silently he moved closer until he was no more than 5ft away from the 7ft silver monster, he pulled the trigger and blew its head clean off. As he did gunfire erupted from below him. He quickly checked to see how many of them there were, 4 more centurions below all firing upwards to him. He reached into his bag and took out two home made nail bombs and lit the fuses before throwing them down below and taking cover. The explosion was loud and echoed across the landscape. The gunfire below had stopped. Archangel holstered his sidearm and took hold of his rifle again. He smiled to himself as he peered over the side and the pieces of the 4 Cylons were scattered across the ground. He decided not to revel in his victory for too long and got back underway, his mood lifted by his 5 effortless kills.

Skeeter felt much better as he looked at himself clean shaven in the mirror. The razor he had taken from the shop had done a great job and he had already put it into his pack. He walked back out into the shop and it didn't take him long to find a map of the area. He took it to the junk food section of the shop, placed it out onto a counter and began to eat a chocolate bar as he found his bearings. He now knew where he was and it didn't take him long to see where he had gone wrong and where he needed to be. He knew it would only take him a few hours to meet up with the others but decided that he was going to take the opportunity to sleep on one of the beds he had seen earlier for a couple of hours before he moved on. As a kid this would have been one of his dreams come true, to be left alone in a big store, able to take whatever he wanted and to his surprise some of the enjoyment he had imagined as a child was there right now, all it was missing was his best friends. The time alone had given him an opportunity to think about the last month and he realised it was the first time he had done so properly. Since Danny's death he had slipped into auto pilot. He hadn't even really mourned his friend yet, that was something he intended to do when this was all over. The introduction of Vannick to the group had helped to keep his spirits up, they had so much in common. They loved Pyramid, they had talked for hours on end about the one on one game they intended on having when they were rescued. Vannick also had the same taste in music and movies so they had always had plenty to talk about. He couldn't remember the last time he had spent so much time with Archangel, at least 10 years ago. As much as he loved being with his best friend he wasn't the same man anymore. Skeeter had seen the destruction he was capable of and how easy it was for him to commit intense amounts of violence in the blink of an eye and as much as he was great full for it as it kept them alive it saddened him at the same time. He had also seen another side to him with Grace that he had never witnessed before, Skeeter knew without even being told how much his friend loved Grace and how it had destroyed a little piece of him when she had died. Now there was Bria, he didn't know what to make of her. She was a soldier but she was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. He tried hard not to think about her, there was too much in his past that made him fear getting close to anyone. He took his wallet out of his back pocket and took out a photograph and smiled at it. The blonde woman in the picture had been called Alice and he had loved her more than anyone in his life and she had been taken away from him. He tried not to think about it more than anything else that had ever happened to him. His behaviour after had spiralled out of control so fast. Had it not been for Archangel, well he was sure he would have been dead a long time now. Which was why he needed to be there for his friend now more than ever, he knew what he was going through and like Archangel had been there for him, he would be there for Archangel.

He put the picture back into his wallet and picked up another of the chocolate bars, he had already stuffed the room he had left in there full of more cigarettes and chocolate. He took his things over to the bed department and laid them all out on the bed next to him in case he needed to make a quick escape. He set the alarm on his watch for two hours time, just a quick nap and then he would be back on his way.

Vannick stood at the entrance to the cave looking in at all the people. Bria and Michaels sat talking to each other while Mantill and Ramok sat listening to Ramok read one of the sacred scrolls he had brought with him. He had never held any stock in the scrolls himself but he understood how it brought comfort to people at times like this when the world felt like it was ending. Vannick had already noticed that Ramok was quite a man. He was one of the most peaceful people he had ever met, always spoke in calm but reassuring tones. Although he was a man who wasn't in charge he was excellent at keeping the peace. Mike sat by himself tinkering with some electronic equipment. Vannick went over and sat by him.

"Working on anything interesting?" he asked.

Mike looked up before turning his attention back to his work.

"Everything I work on is interesting Corporal."

Vannick chuckled to himself.

"If you must know I'm trying to build an EMP grenade." Mike replied.

"That sounds like it'll be useful."

"Of course it will be useful, however there are drawbacks." He replied.

"Drawbacks to dropping Cylons without ever firing a shot?"

Mike sighed to himself and rubbed his eyes, "What does an EMP DO Corporal?"

"It shorts out anything electronic."

"That is a very crude way of putting it but essentially you are correct, so if you use this to "drop" Cylons as you put it, every piece of electronic equipment will short out." He waved the motion detector as he said it. "I am making this for any last ditch attempt we may need to stop a large amount of Cylons if all looks doomed."

"Fair enough, you carry on with that Mike."

"You know if the Cylons had waited just two more weeks it would be doctor." He said coldly.

"How very inconsiderate of them." Vannick said sarcastically.

"Exactly Corporal."

As Vannick stood up he saw Bria and Michaels laughing at what they had just heard.

"Some people are far too intelligent for their own good." Vannick said as he sat down.

"You feeling any better now?" Michaels asked.

"A little, I'm just concerned. I've been with those guys for a long time, they quite literally saved my life."

"Skeeter told us what had happened." Bria said.

"Yeah it was insane. Wish I could have put my CO down myself for what he did but at least Grace did it." Vannick replied taking a swig out of his water bottle.

"She meant a lot to all of not just Archangel didn't she?" Bria asked.

Vannick nodded, "Like I said we've been together a long time. It would be the same now if anything happened to any of you guys, well most of you guys anyway." He said flashing Mantill a glance.

Skeeter awoke with a startle, there had been a noise. As he rubbed his eyes he heard a smash. He sat up with a startle. He dived off the bed in between the two beds and grabbed his shotgun. He dare not move when he heard that sound they all dreaded. There was a Cylon in here with him, at least he hoped it was just one. He tried to hear where it was. It was moving fast throughout the shop. He wanted to move to, to take a look to see where it was but that would be the quickest way to get his head blown off. It was in the room, he could hear it clearly now. The slicing noise of it's legs as it walked. The noise of it's red eye as it moved from side to side and then the noise of it's guns being moved into the firing position. It didn't know he was here, how could it have known he was here? His bag, frak he had picked up his shotgun but his bag was still on the bed. Had it seen it? Was it just being cautious. He pumped a shell into the chamber of his weapon, he wasn't going out without a fight. He wasn't sure in the split second they saw each other whether or not it was as startled as he was to see it looking down on him. But the one thing he did know was he fired first and hit his target in the chest and head. He stood up and grabbed his bag from next to the downed centurion and fired another shot into it just to be sure. He quickly put two more shells into the barrel, he wasn't going to get caught short, there was hardly ever just one of them. He quickly moved back towards the doorway that led to where he had entered the shop. As he moved into the next room he saw a second centurion and fired on instinct before it had even seen it, this shot however only clipped the centurion. Skeeter fired again and again at the metal monster till it stopped moving before once again reloading his weapon. No matter how scary this always was there was a rush that came with fighting the Cylons that he had never experienced with anything else. He didn't wait to see if there were any more, he ran towards the smashed window where he had come in. As he moved back outside the rain had stopped and the sun was beginning to come out. No sign of any Cylons, this was good. He knew which direction he was going in now and headed that way as fast as he could. When he got back into the cover of trees he lit his customary victory cigarette. He had started to come up with little rituals for things, the little things that made the days easier to get through.

When Archangel reached the old camp he could tell before he got there everything had gone. By the look of the signs the group had left quickly and there had been a firefight. He looked around and saw there was no blood anywhere, that was a good sign. No blood meant everyone had got away. As he headed away he saw a downed toaster which made him smile, looking by the entry holes Skeeter had taken it out with his trusty shotgun. He began to run, the sun drying the rain off him.

Nearly an hour later and Archangel was walking, he wasn't far now and he was relieved there had been no further signs of any Cylons. Then he heard movement up ahead. Well done, he thought to himself, jinxing myself again. He smiled when he saw Skeeter appear in front of him. Both men walked forward and hugged each other.

"You have no idea how fraking good it is to see you." Skeeter said.

"I think I do. Where are the others?" Archangel asked.

"We got separated during the firefight. I lost my footing and fell hitting my head." He said pointing to his forehead. "I had no idea where I was when I came too, I found a department store of all things a couple of hours south and found myself a map, got myself a shave as well."

"They must have gone ahead to the new camp."

"Hey before we move on got a present for you." Skeeter said reaching into his bag he pulled out a chocolate bar and handed it to his friend. Both men laughed, "Don't ever say I don't give you anything."

"Thank you. I was beginning to think I'd never get to eat another one of these again."

Both men began to walk.

"Did you get home?" Skeeter asked.

Archangel nodded his head, "Yeah I did. They had left me a letter, I think they're dead. They were saying goodbye."

"I'm so sorry."

"I came to terms with them being dead a long time ago. I got myself cleaned up and took some photos. And then ran into one of those skin jobs and some toasters."

"I'm guessing you had some fun then on the way back here?"

Archangel let out a laugh, "Well I did frak with the skin job for over a day before putting him out of his misery. As sick as this sounds I enjoyed it. I took out all the aggression and rage I've been feeling since Grace was killed on him."

"I wouldn't have liked to have been him."

"Lets just say at the end I didn't make it as quick as I could have."

"Nothing less than they deserve." Skeeter replied.

DAY 37

Vannick awoke early the next morning, he hadn't slept well all night. Everyone except for Michaels was fast asleep. Michaels held up a cup of coffee and signalled Vannick over to him. The sun was out the day after a rain storm was always nice and refreshing.

"Sleep well?" Michaels asked.

"Not really." Vannick replied, "You?"

"What sleep I had before I took over on watch was good sleep. Then again I've slept in far worse places than caves in my time."

"It must have been an interesting life you've lead."

"I have to admit it's quite liberating, walking the continents of the colonies. Learning all about nature and how to survive in the wild. Other than the Cylons and the daily anti rad injections this isn't any different for me, except that it's a larger group. What about you, you're a colonial marine, you must have had your share of interesting days."

Vannick laughed, "I've not been what you would call a model marine. I used to be assigned to the Atlantia, the same ship Archangel is from. Then I had a disagreement with my Lieutenant."

"If you don't mind me asking what happened?"

"Well it got to the point where enough words had been exchanged and we ended up fighting. He ended up in sickbay for a week and I ended up getting busted down to Corporal and sent to the most pointless post they could find for me. I'm lucky I could have been court martialed. But the old man had seen the whole thing and stepped up for me. I was sent to Caprica and reassigned to Sagittaron and that's where I was when this all happened."

"Well I for one am glad you were there when it all happened. You're a good man Darius and I know I feel a lot better knowing you're around."

"Thanks, that means more than you know."

"I'm going to give Skeeter another hour or so before I go out looking for him." Michaels said.

As he finished speaking Mike's motion tracker started to beep. They looked down on it and saw two blips appearing. Michaels picked it up.

"They're green." He said.

"Humans or skin jobs." Vannick said.

"They're coming in through the rocks." Michaels said pointing ahead.

"Go wake the others." Vannick said as he moved ahead behind one of the rocks for cover.

Michaels quickly ran into the cave.

"Everyone wake up, we've got contacts heading this way."

Within moments everyone was up, Bria came out with Michaels, sidearm in hand.

"How close?" she asked.

"Very we should see them any second now." Vannick replied.

All three of them took up positions, weapons ready. Moments later they all relaxed as they heard a laugh they all recognised. Seconds after that Skeeter and Archangel appeared in front of them.

"Morning guys." Archangel said with a smile.

"It's so good to see you guys." Vannick said as he greeted both men.

"What happened to you?" Bria asked.

"I fell during the firefight and hit my head, I was out cold for about an hour before I realised I had no clue where I was."

The others appeared out of the cave, everyone except the doctor seemed pleased to see them.

"Did you find any sign of your parents?" Ramok asked.

Archangel sighed, "They're gone."

"So all that for nothing." Mantill said, "You're a selfish son of a bitch."

"Good to see you too doc." Archangel replied.

"You can't just go running off whenever you feel like it." He yelled.

"Hey leave it, please." Bria said.

"I'm sick of you telling me what to do. All of you."

Archangel stepped forward to face Mantill, "I don't know what your problem is but I, we need you to get over yourself. I or any of you are free to come and go as you please. I had to go see if my parents were still alive. If you have a problem with me and how things are done here, please feel free to leave. I'd love to see how far you get on your own."

Mantill took a swing and hit Archangel on the chin. Archangel barely moved under the force of the punch.

"I'll give you that one for free but I want your attitude to stop now." He took a step closer so they were face to face, "If you ever hit me again I will break every bone in your hand, do you understand."

Mantill nodded his head, he looked terrified.

"Play nice with the group or you could wake up one morning and find that we're all gone."

Mantill turned and walked back into the cave. Everyone was silent as Archangel turned back around and put his bag on the floor.

"My first EMP grenade is ready!" Mike said in an attempt to cut the tension.

Archangel patted him on the shoulder which made him flinch a little.

"Good work Mike, you do good work." He said.

Archangel sat down.

"I'm sorry I just left without telling you first. I had to go see if I could find them. I won't do that to you guys again, I promise."


	8. Haven

Space was beautiful. The millions of stars dotted through the blackness, like pinpricks of light. The sight never got old for Archangel, it was breathtaking. As he sat in the seat of his Viper he felt relaxed. The stresses and strains of life all seemed to wash away. The peace and tranquillity was broken by his dradis console. Eighteen enemy contact appeared all around him. As he looked through the canopy of his Viper he could see the raiders that had appeared from nowhere.

"This is Archangel, I've got eighteen enemy contacts. Please launch the alert vipers for assistance." He said over the COM.

As he turned off the safeties on his weapons he turned his plane towards the nearest of the raiders. As he engaged the first raider he wondered why he hadn't heard anything back over the COM.

"Battlestar Atlantia this is Archangel I need those alert vipers now." He said.

As he flipped his Viper around he took out two of the raiders. As the blips disappeared from dradis two more appeared.

"Frak." He said to himself.

The raiders were beginning to swarm around him, but Archangel remained calm. The more raiders he took out the more appeared on dradis around him.

What the frak was going on, why hadn't he heard anything. As enemy fire whizzed past him he repeated his request.

"Atlantia why aren't you replying? I really need help out here. There are more raiders than I can handle, I really need that backup."

He flew through the swarming raiders taking more and more out as he flew. As he looked down and saw them vanish from dradis before his eyes more and more appeared.

An enemy round clipped the wing of his Viper and sent him into a spin he couldn't recover from. He knew the end was coming, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Archangel awoke with a start and sat up suddenly. He rubbed his eyes and saw the rest of the survivors in their camp, he had been dreaming, again.

DAY 43

This was the fourth day in a row that he had had the same dream and it always ended the same. As he looked around everyone seemed in good spirits.

"Good morning Captain, having bad dreams again?" Ramok said.

Archangel turned to see the Preacher sat near him.

"That obvious?" Archangel replied.

"The last few mornings you've woken up as you did today. Is there anything you need to talk about?"

Archangel rubbed his eye.

"For the last four nights I've been having the same dream. I'm flying in my Viper, everything is calm and peaceful then a lot of enemy contacts appear. I call in for help and engage the enemy. Every time I destroy one of them more appear. I call in for help again and no one replies. They keep coming and coming more and more of them, just as they're about to destroy me I wake up."

Ramok nods his head, "Well that makes a lot of sense my son."

"How?" Archangel replies.

"You have been fighting the Cylons for over a month now, no matter how many you kill more and more keep chasing us. Everyone in this camp looks to you for our survival, there is no one coming to relieve us. That is what your dreams are reflecting."

"That does make sense." Archangel replied. "I've never said this to anyone else but I'm tired. I don't know how much longer I can keep going like this. My reactions are getting sluggish and it's only a matter of time."

"You will do what you have to do for as long as you are able. The gods will only take you when it's your time."

"I know my lack of religious belief must frustrate you at times but I want to thank you for keeping my council."

"As you know I am not a fighter, so any way I can help. I do not condone violence as you know but you are a brave man, a hero to these people. I ask the gods everyday to help you protect us and they always listen."

"Thank you, I hope they continue to listen today." He replied as he stood up. He saw Vannick preparing to head off on a patrol, "Vannick hang on I'm coming with you."

Archangel and Vannick both walked through the trees.

"So how are you these days?" Vannick asked.

"Good, it's nice to have an easily defendable base they haven't found yet." He replied.

"You know what I mean." Vannick replied.

Archangel sighed, "I'm tired. I'm loosing whatever edge I had. It's only a matter of time before the toasters catch me on a bad day."

"It'll take more than an off day for them to get you."

Archangel let out a laugh, "I hope you're right. What about you?"

"Me I'm the same as always. I do my job everyday, I've been used to being the muscle for a long time."

"You keep these people alive, you do your job good."

"I tell you what though what I wouldn't give for a cold six pack and steak on a barbeque."

"Now that does sound good. Maybe the Cylons will give us a ceasefire while we go find some."

Both men laughed.

"I can't remember the last time I had a fat steak." Archangel said.

"I can." Vannick replied, "My grandmothers 80th birthday party last year. I had some leave so I went back for a family party. All the family was there. I've always been lucky all my family got on. My Uncle Sam was a butcher in Caprica City, he had his own shop. He brought this steak that was worth 50 cubits each, man it just fell apart in your mouth."

"That sounds good."

"It was. When I got busted from sergeant my gran was the only one who didn't make me feel bad about it. My cousin made a crack about it at the party and she tore him a new one. Told everyone there that they shouldn't make me feel bad for standing up for myself. She told them if the Admiral of the fleet had stood up for me then they had no right to say anything. Man I loved that woman so much."

"That's nice."

"The day she died was the worst day of my life. No matter what has happened since, the attack, everything the day she died I felt like my soul had died with her. I would have gladly taken any number of bullets for that woman."

"I barely knew my grand parents. My folks didn't really get on with them so we didn't get to see them very often. But I loved my folks a lot, they were good people, took a lot of crap off me when I was younger."

"All parents do."

"That's true. You know I have or should I say had a daughter."

"I didn't know that."

"Yeah the only time I saw her was the day she was born. My girlfriend and I were careless when we were kids, her folks made her give the baby up. I never even got to hold her." There was sadness in Vannick's voice that Archangel had never heard before. "They wouldn't even let me take a picture of her. They told me I wasn't good enough to be a father, I've tried to forget about that day but no matter how I try it's as fresh as it was the day it happened."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Don't be." Vannick replied, "At that point they were right. She had a life that I couldn't give her and who knows maybe she and her family survived."

Archangel patted him on the shoulder, "I hope so."

"What about you? Any pre-war regrets?"

"Oh yeah, focusing everything on a career that's gone up in smoke! Not spending more time with my parents and brother. Not seeing Skeeter and the guys as often as I should have."

"I totally get that."

"You know when I came to Caprica my best friend was a girl named Kara. She and I used to get into all kinds of trouble. Her mom was hard on her all the time. We decided to join Vipers together. She was the most naturally gifted pilot I've seen. Me I had to work hard on learning how to fly, everything I can do now was down to hours and hours in the cockpit then once it clicked it was like second nature, for her, the first time she sat in a cock pit it just clicked. She is one of the best friends I ever had and I haven't seen her in years."

"Where was she stationed when the attack happened?"

"The Galactica. Her CO there was the only person who she couldn't piss off, he took her under his wing. I'm telling you if anyone survived she did, she's too stubborn to kill."

"Did you hear that?" Vannick asked.

Both men stopped. Archangel closed his eyes for a moment and listened, yes he heard it too. They opened fire on the centurions just before they appeared out of the bushes in front of them, taking the first two down. Both men automatically went into retreat mode. They both took it in turns to cover as the other ran.

"How many?" Vannick shouted.

"At least four more." Archangel shouted back as he reloaded his rifle.

As Vannick turned to fire Archangel made a run for it. Once the last one had been taken down both men ran full pelt back to the camp. As they ran up between the rocks that led to the cave Bria and Skeeter saw them and stood up.

"Everything okay?" Bria asked.

"Cylons, we've taken them out but there could be more. Everyone get your gear together, we have to leave." Archangel said.

"Guys I've got eight green blips heading this way." Mike said pointing to the entry point to the cave.

"Vannick you and me take the left, Skeeter and Bria take the right. They could still be skin jobs."

All four of them took up positions while the others got all the kit together and waited. Mike quickly ran up to Archangel and gave him the tracker.

"300 metres." Archangel said to the others.

The next few minutes seemed to drag like hours. Then Archangel saw the black uniform of a colonial marine, followed by seven more.

"IDENTIFY YOURSELVES?" Archangel ordered.

"Sergeant Lucas Jennings Battlestar Orion." Came the reply.

Orion? That was they last name Archangel had expected to hear, he didn't even realise it had been finished.

"Captain Mark Hunter, Battlestar Atlantia." He replied.

As the eight marines came into the camp they exchanged greetings.

"How did you get here?" Archangel asked.

"We've been running rescue missions." Lucas replied.

"The Orion is still in the fight?" Bria asked with a smile on her face.

"Yes ma'am." He replied when he saw her flight uniform. "Now I don't mean to be rude but we have to get you guys out of here. We have Raptors 3 clicks from here and we saw a large group of centurions heading this way."

Everyone had smiles on their faces, the rescue Archangel had promised was finally here.

"Everyone we have to move and we have to move fast. I want everyone to have their weapons drawn and safeties off." Archangel said.

Vannick, Skeeter and Bria all made sure all their weapons were fully loaded.

"Sergeant if you and three of your men take the rear with me and Vannick, Bria, Skeeter and the others can take the front with the others in the middle." Archangel said.

"Yes sir. Conner take the lead, lets move and keep a good pace." Lucas said.

"Lets do this." Archangel said.

Before long the group was out in the open and keeping a swift pace. Archangel kept an eye out as they moved.

Lucas spoke into his radio, "Raptor one this is Jennings, we are en-route with nine survivors. There are a large group of centurions in the area we will need to leave as soon as possible."

"Jennings this is Hawkeye all the other teams are back and we will be ready to move as soon as you are aboard." A female voice replied over the radio.

"TARGET." Jennings shouted as he spotted centurions to their rear and opened fire. Archangel turned to see seven centurions and a number 1 opening fire on the group. As the rest of the group kept moving the rear guard opened fire. Vannick was the first to hit one of the Cylons taking it down with a barrage of fire. Archangel aimed at the skin job and clipped him in the shoulder causing him to fall backwards. Once the front guard had progressed far enough they took over the cover as Archangel and the others began to move to their position. Bullets whizzed by from front and behind. This was the fiercest firefight they had had since this all started. As the rear guard met the front they took up position again and opened fire. The amount of Cylons had doubled. Archangel took out two centurions before hearing the click of an empty magazine.

"FRAK." He shouted as he reloaded his weapon.

He saw Lucas along side him seemed to be enjoying himself more than he expected. He hadn't taken his finger off the trigger since Archangel had reloaded, taking out three centurions before he had to reload himself.

"Enjoying yourself there?" Archangel said with a smile.

"Oh yeah." he replied, "Paybacks a bitch." he began to open fire again.

Vannick signalled the move as the rear guard once again took over.

Michaels was the first to reach the Raptors. He was met by some more marines.

"The others are on their way, we were caught by Cylons there are a lot of them." He said as he helped Sarah and Ramok into one of the ships.

"We'll go back and help." One of the marines said.

"I'll come with you." Michaels replied.

As they all turned to go back and help. They saw Skeeter, Bria and the others running towards them.

"Do the others need help?" Michaels asked.

Bria signalled towards where the others were still firing on the now 5 centurions and skin job. She and the others opened fire so the rear guard could move.

"Tell your pilots to get ready for takeoff." Bria said to one of the marines who ran back to the raptors.

Archangel ran with the others, he could see the safety of the waiting raptors up ahead then felt the sting of a bullet catch him in the left leg. His momentum carried him forward but he couldn't stop himself from falling over. He took cover from behind a rock formation and quickly checked to see how bad the wound was. He looked up to see the others had made it back. He turned and began to fire taking down one of the remaining Cylons. He could hear the others calling to him, but until these Cylons were down he couldn't go anywhere. After taking two of them down he once again heard the click of an empty magazine. He reached for his belt but there were none left. Frak he thought to himself, the rest were in his bag, but now wasn't the time to go looking for them. As he reached for his side arms he could see by Skeeter's face something was wrong. Archangel turned to see one of the centurions was nearly on top of him. He started firing at the advancing centurion, emptying both clips into it. Vannick had managed to take down the other one. The skin job was gone, he must have realised he couldn't win. Archangel let out a deep breath and got to his feet before staggering towards the raptors.

A young female ECO appeared out of one of the Raptors.

"LETS GO!" Hawkeye yelled.

Skeeter hugged his friend, "You fraking did it." He said.

Archangel smiled, "Get onboard, we're not out of this yet." He followed his friend and Bria onto one of the waiting Raptors.

"We're ready to go." He said as he got onboard.

He turned and smiled at Bria. A gun shot echoed from outside. Bria's face was splattered with blood as a bullet hit a console next to her. Archangel looked at her then looked down at his chest. Blood poured out of a bullet wound in the left side of his chest.

"Frak." He said as he fell to his knees.

The 1 stood with a smoking gun in his hand and a smile on his face. Bria fired the last round from her gun as the Raptor door closed and hit 1 right between the eyes.

Skeeter was frantic as he held his hand over his friends wound.

"We have to get the doc off the other raptor. We can't go yet." He yelled.

One of the marines moved over to him.

"Let me take a look I'm a medic." The marine said.

"WE HAVE TO GET THE DOC." Skeeter screamed in his face.

"Skeeter let go of him and calm down let the medic help him." Bria said as she dragged him off Archangel.

The 5 Raptors took off to the sky and were quickly intercepted by raiders.

"We'll be ready to jump in 5." Hawkeye said.

The medic looked at his wound.

"It's okay, I don't think the bullet has hit anything." The medic said.

For the first time since Bria had known him he looked terrified. She put her hand on the side of his face and said calmly, "He'll be okay."

The five raptors jumped. Moments later they appeared in space near a huge red nebula. It was massive and went as far as the eye could see.

"Orion this is Hawkeye we're going to need medics in the hanger bay we have wounded."

"What's your name?" the marine looking after Archangel asked.

"Archangel." He replied trying to block out the burning pain in his chest.

"The Archangel?" Hawkeye asked turning around.

Bria nodded her head, "Yes, THE Archangel."

Vannick sat in Raptor sat looking out of the Raptor's window. The sight before him was breathtaking.

"This truly is amazing." Ramok said from behind him.

"Where are we?" Vannick asked.

"The Rendear system." The pilot replied.

They all looked out with awe in their eyes and on their faces. The 5 Raptors moved into the Nebula. Minutes passed before they saw the first of a fleet of ships.

"That's a civilian ship." Vannick said.

"Yeah we've found 134 civilian ships since the attack." The pilot replied, "There's the Orion and our battle group."

There were ships everywhere then for the first time they saw the Battlestar Orion, it was massive. It dwarfed every other ship by a long way.

"I've never seen a Battlestar like this before." Vannick said.

"She's the only one, the first of what was going to be a new class. We'd been out of dry dock a week before the attack."

Captain Jimmy "Bojay" Johnson was the pilot of Raptor one. As the Orion's lead Raptor Pilot he led them towards the hanger bay.

"Orion this is Bojay requesting permission to land." He said over the COM.

"Bojay this is Orion, the starboard flight pod has been cleared for you to land. We have medics standing by." The LSO said back to him.

"Thanks Orion we're on our way in." he replied, "Hawkeye tell the group to form up on us."

"Yes sir." She replied.

Archangel tried to sit up.

"I need to see." He said.

"I need you to stay put sir."

"Please I need this." He said.

"Private it's okay." Bria said.

The medic and Skeeter both helped Archangel to the front of the Raptor.

"Pleased to meet you Archangel, I'm Bojay." The young pilot said.

"Good to meet you Bojay." He too saw Orion for the first time. It took his breath away. He finally saw the sight he wouldn't live to see. Orion was the most impressive Battlestar he had ever seen.

"Help me back." Archangel said.

Skeeter and the medic helped him back. As he sat down the pain in the leg and his arm was too much and he passed out from the pain.

"Archangel?" Skeeter said shaking his friend.

The medic checked his pulse, "He's okay, he's passed out."

The flight deck of Orion was bustling with life. Dozens of Vipers ran down one side as well as Raptors. Deckhands and pilots went about their business. A small crowd had begun to gather around the 5 Raptors which had just landed.

Skeeter and the medic were the first ones out of Raptor one carrying the unconscious Archangel to the waiting medics. Doctor Christine Hammond, the ships senior medical officer waited with them.

"What's happened?" she asked.

"Gunshot wounds to the chest and leg, he's passed out through the pain." The medic replied.

"What's his name?" Christine asked.

"Captain Mark Hunter, Archangel." Bria said.

"Okay lets get him out of here."

Vannick and Michaels came over.

"What happened?" Vannick asked.

"The skin job shot him in the chest." Skeeter replied.

"The medics say he'll be okay." Bria added.

They were silent for a few moments, suddenly where they were hit them.

"We did it." Skeeter said. They all smiled at each other.

Bria and Vannick noticed the addition of two more people walking towards them and both stood to attention. Commander Heinrick Johannsen the ships commanding officer had a commanding presence. A veteran of the first Cylon war and a highly decorated commanding officer. He was in his mid sixties and had very short balding silver hair. His first officer Colonel Vanessa Garrett was very young by comparison. Her jet black hair tied back showed off her stunning good looks. Bria and Vannick both saluted the officers who in turn saluted back.

"I am Lieutenant Bria Thirren." Bria said, "and this is Corporal Darius Vannick."

"At ease. My name is Commander Heinrick Johannsen and this is my XO Colonel Vanessa Garrett. We welcome you all to the Battlestar Orion." He said as he shook their hands.

Skeeter sat alone besides Archangel as he lay in the sick bay. He had lay asleep after surgery on his shoulder. As he started to come round Dr Hammond came over to him.

"Hey." Archangel said groggily.

"Hello Captain Hunter you gave us quite a scare. I'm Dr Hammond the ships senior medical officer. Everything is fine, the gunshot in the leg was just a graze. The other went in and out just under your shoulder blade, missed anything major, you're going to be fine."

"Thank you and call me Archangel." He replied.

"I'll be back in a minute with some pain killers for you."

"Thank you."

"I'd ask you how you're feeling but that would be a dumb question?" Skeeter said with a smile.

"Well I can imagine I look as bad as I feel." Archangel replied smiling.

"At least you waited till we got rescued to get shot."

"Well there is that."

"Thank you."

"What the frak for? Waiting to get shot?" Archangel said with a laugh.

"Saving my worthless life."

"You're welcome." He replied.

"You saved us all."

"Not all." He said.

"Well I don't know about you but I intend to get stinking drunk tonight. I've been invited to the pilots mess with Bria and Vannick."

"Have a few for me." Archangel replied.

Commander Johannsen walked into the sickbay and saw Archangel talking to his friend.

"Doctor how is he?" the Commander asked.

"He'll be okay. Other than the two gunshot wounds his body is just exhausted. Judging by what I've heard they all went through I'm not surprised."

"Sounds like they've had it a lot worse than we did." Johannsen replied.

"I want him to have at least two weeks rest before you have him doing anything."

"Of course doctor."

The commander walked over to the two survivors.

"Skeeter is it?"

"Yes sir it is."

"Would it be alright if I spoke to the captain?"

"Sure." Skeeter replied standing up, "I'll come see you later."

Archangel nodded. The commander took Skeeters chair.

"My name is Commander Johannsen."

"Very pleased to meet you sir."

The doctor came and administered painkillers as they spoke.

"Thank you doctor."

"Lieutenant Thirren has told me what you've been through, it's quite a tale."

"We've been very lucky."

"All the other survivors are calling you a hero."

"I don't know about that sir, I just did what anyone else would have done."

"Never the less the things you have done are remarkable."

"If you don't mind me asking sir, how did you survive?"

"As you said we were very lucky. Orion had only been out of dry dock for a week when the attack happened. We were conducting battle maneouvers so the crew could get used to the ship. We received the message for the counter attack at Virgon, as we prepared to join the rest of the fleet eight Cylon raiders found us. Before we could launch a single Viper or even get off a single shot they triggered a virus that crippled us. The ship was dead in the water. Thankfully our battle group is old. Before being assigned to us they were with the Galactica. Adama had refused to let them be networked and by that point they still hadn't been upgraded so the virus had no effect on them. The four gunstars took up a defensive formation around us and destroyed the raiders. By the time Orion was back online and we figured out what had happened and we purged the virus it was too late. We jumped to Virgon and the battle was over. There was wreckage everywhere. We managed to find a few Vipers and Raptors that hadn't been affected either and when they saw us they came out of hiding. Since then we've been searching the systems for survivors and running rescue and supply missions to the colonies. You're lucky this was the last SAR mission before we leave the system for good. Judging by where you have been we've only just missed finding you on a number of occasions."

"You said leaving the system for good, where are we going?"

"To find somewhere we can live."

"Can I ask did any other Battlestars survive?"

"We know that at least one survived the initial attack but we don't know where they are now."

"Which one?"

Johannsen gave a sigh, "Pegasus."

"How do you know they survived."

"Not long after the attack we came across a small fleet of civilians. Their ships had been stripped of anything useful and they had been left to die. We managed to evacuate them all before the Cylons found them."

"Seriously? They did that?"

"Yes. By all accounts they took people as well, anyone they thought might be useful. They also executed the families of anyone who refused to leave with them."

"Mother frakers."

"Needless to say we are on the lookout for Pegasus."

"Have you found many of the human Cylons amongst the survivors?"

Johanssen looked shocked, "Sorry, human what?"

"Oh my gods you don't know. There are human Cylons, we've come across at least three of them."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, three different men but lots of the same person."

"I don't really know what to say. This could prove a problem."

"You should speak to one of the survivors Mike. He was going to begin trying to figure out how to tell the difference. He did say that he would need to look at a corpse for his work."

"Mike, the teenager Mike?"

"Yes sir, he may be young and have no people skills whatsoever but he is a genius."

"I'll speak with him later."

"There is something else you need to know. As you are the most senior officer still alive I need to inform you that as far as I am aware I am the only surviving member of the colonial black ops unit the shadows."

"What was your role?"

"I'm an assassin."

"Thank you for telling me. Hopefully we'll only need your experience as a pilot in the days to come. Speaking of which we need to talk about that. Today our CAG and squadron XO were killed during a SAR mission."

"I'm very sorry to hear that sir."

"I need to find someone to take that job as soon as possible. I need someone with experience and I know you were the CAG of the Atlantia."

"Yes sir I was."

"I need you to take the job."

"I don't want to step on anyone's feet if there is someone else already here who could do the job."

"In peace time I would have lots of options but right now I need someone with experience and that person is you."

"Well then I accept the job."

"Thank you. The position of CAG on this ship comes with the rank of Major so congratulations."

"Thank you sir."

"Anyway I've taken up too much of your time for now. I need you to get some rest. I have a meeting with the former mayor of Caprica city. The civilians want to be led by a government and I'll be in meetings about it for the next few hours."

"Well have fun there sir."

"I'll see you tomorrow Major."

"Yes sir."

Archangel slept well that night. He had dreams of Grace all night long. Dreams so vivid when he awoke the following morning he had to remind himself she hadn't made it.

The sick bay was quiet. He sat himself up and moved his legs off the side of the bed. He managed to stand up without much in the way of pain. The meds Dr Hammond had given him were still helping him. He managed to stand up, despite being shot he actually felt good. He began walking to the door.

"And exactly where do you think you are going Major?" Dr Hammond said from her office.

"I feel much better I wanted to go for a walk around." He replied.

"Please go back to bed, we'll see how you are later."

"Doctor I hate to be in bed for so long I'm fine honestly."

"I'm not going to argue with you Major. Stay in bed till lunchtime and I'll consider letting you go out for a walk."

"Yes ma'am." He said sarcastically, "May I ask what time it is?"

"7.23am. I'll get you some breakfast shortly."

"Thank you."

Hammond walked over to him and handed him a sports magazine.

"It's not new but it will keep you entertained for a while."

It was all new to Archangel he couldn't remember the last time he had read Pyramid. The cover was plastered with the Sea Bucks Captain Sam Anders. As he began to read his "latest" interview it felt strange to be relaxing.

Later that afternoon Archangel noticed Colonel Garrett walk in and go talk to the doctor. He hoped she had come to rescue him. A few moments later she walked over to him with a smile.

"Well Major the doc tells me you want to go for a walk."

"Gods yes." He replied.

"Come on I'll show you round the ship." She added.

As he got off the bed Hammond came over to him. She handed him a bottle of painkillers.

"I'm going to let you go on the condition you come see me twice a day. Take these three times a day."

"Yes ma'am." He replied with a smile.

"Pilots!" she said to herself as he walked out with the XO.

"Is this your first position as XO?" Archangel asked as the two walked around the ship.

"Is it that obvious?" she replied.

"No not at all, I was just wondering."

"Yeah it is. I'd been an XO for a week when they attacked. The commander has been an excellent teacher though."

"Where were you before Orion?"

Garrett paused for a moment as if she didn't want to say, "I was the LSO on Pegasus."

"Pegasus!"

"Yeah talk about dodging a bullet with that one."

"I've had a couple of dealings with Admiral Cain. She wanted me to join her air group when I graduated. After our second meeting earlier this year I don't think she likes me very much."

"You met her earlier this year?"

Archangel nodded, "Yeah while Pegasus was docked at Virgon."

"That's why we never met, I was on shore leave then."

"As you know she has a reputation for being hard. The admiralty had a list of complaints as long as my arm against her from crewmembers and other members of the fleet. Admirals Corman and Negala sent me there to evaluate her."

"Wow I can't imagine she liked that."

"Well at the time she didn't know. They told her I was there to evaluate the ship to see if any upgrades were needed on the hanger decks etc. After when I handed in my report on here and she found out what I put, well she wasn't pleased."

"Can I ask what you put?" Garrett asked.

"I said that I thought she should be removed from command and stationed on one of the colonies so someone could keep an eye on her. I recommended that Colonel Belzen be given the command. I liked him and the crew seemed to be a lot more relaxed around him."

"That's an understatement. What did the Admiralty say?"

"I don't know that's the last I heard about it."

"When I found out about what she had done if I'm honest I wasn't surprised."

"So tell me about Commander Johanssen." Archangel said.

"He's a great leader of men. He knows how to command and everyone on this ship respects him. He doesn't take any unnecessary risks but every now and again when we go toe to toe with the Cylons he has them running with their tails between their legs. You're going to like serving under him."

"Good I'm glad." He replied.

The tour of the ship took longer than it normally would have due to the gunshot wound in his leg. The ship however was very impressive. Archangel had heard about Orion from Admiral Negala, she was the Admiralties answer to the Cylon threat they always new was coming. She was a battleship plain and simple, designed to be able to take out multiple large targets at once. Had they managed to make the full amount the fleet would have been far more formidable than it already had been. The tour ended with Garrett taking him to his quarters. As the door opened Archangel was surprised.

"Is this right?" he asked.

"Yes, one of the perks of the job, you get your own quarters." She replied.

He walked inside and saw his gear was already there. There was a bed with two lockers next to it. On the other side of the room a sofa and table and a bathroom off at the back.

"I didn't expect this."

"Well enjoy it, you deserve some privacy after what you've been through."

"Can you take me to the pilots mess?" Archangel asked.

"Sure it's not far from here."

The pilots mess on Orion was the largest he had seen on a Battlestar. Tables with chairs all over and a few sofas as well. Some of the walls were decorated in the squadron insignias as well as old photographs of crewmembers. Archangel saw Skeeter and Bria sat at a table with Bojay and a couple of other pilots.

"CAG on deck." One of the pilots said. Everyone stood to attention.

Archangel smiled as they all stood up.

"At ease guys. I just wanted to say to you all that I'm looking forward to being your CAG. I hope that I can do justice to the honour of Captain Angel who you lost yesterday. Bare with me with names, I'll get to know you all as soon as I can. We all have an important job to do, protecting the people of this fleet. There are going to be times when they aren't going to appreciate what we do for them, but we have to continue to do it anyway. As far as we know these are the last humans in the universe. There is one tradition I want to start today and then I'll leave you all in peace. I noticed you guys already have a memorial corridor with pictures of the people you guys have lost. That wall." He said pointing to an empty wall behind the pilots, "From now on whenever we loose someone I want their names carving on that wall so we never forget them. I want you guys to get started on it, put on the names of everyone you've lost so far. Then we'll all meet here and have a drink to their memories. I just want you to know that I won't let you guys down."

The pilots clapped as he turned and walked over to his friends. Bojay pulled him out a chair.

"Nice to see you up and around Major." Bria said.

Archangel smiled, "Well I'm still very sore but I'm okay."

"So what do you think of our ship?" Bojay asked.

"Very impressive. She's a beauty."

"Wait till you see her in battle, the Cylons are terrified of us. We've taken out eight Baseships already, four of them in one fight."

"Impressive." Archangel replied, "Anyway I'm not staying I just wanted to come here and see everyone. I'll catch you all later."

Archangel lay on his bed looking through the photo albums he had brought with him. He had taken out a picture of his squadron on Atlantia as well as one of his parents and brother, as he looked at them there was a knock on his door.

"Come in." he said.

Michaels smiled as he walked in.

"Hey everything okay?" Archangel asked.

"Yeah. I'm about to head off to the Starburst. They have domes with different climate zones. I've been offered a position in the artic dome teaching survival skills to people for if we ever find a new planet." Michaels said.

"That's fantastic." Archangel

"I just wanted to give you something before I left. Whenever I went on one of my trips I took a camera with me and there is a photograph that I want you to have." Michaels handed him the photograph.

Archangel looked down and saw Grace smiling at him.

"Than you." Archangel said standing up and giving his friend a hug. "While you're there if there is ever anything you need you call me okay."

"I will. I have a cabin at the bottom of the mountain range they have there promise to come see me when you get the time."

"I will."

Both men shook hands and Michaels walked out of the room. Archangel picked up the other two photos and walked to the memorial corridor. There were other people there taking time to remember their lost ones. Archangel found a clear spot and put up his three pictures together. The Alphas from the Atlantia. A photo of his parents and brother and finally the one of Grace. He stood looking at them.

"We did it." He said to himself, "We're still alive."


	9. Battlestar Orion

9 DAYS BEFORE THE FALL

Colonel Vanessa Garrett stood and looked at herself in the mirror in her locker by her bunk. She looked at her Colonel pips for the first time. She couldn't help but smile to herself. She had enjoyed her time as LSO on the Battlestar Pegasus but couldn't wait to start her term as Executive Officer on the newly completed Battlestar Orion. She took a deep breath and closed the locker, all her things were packed and ready. As she turned to pick them up she saw Colonel Belzen walk in a smile at her.

"You ready to go?" he asked.

"Yes sir." She replied.

"You don't have to call me sir anymore, now we're the same rank, it's Jurgen."

"Well thank you Jurgen." She said, it felt strange calling him by his first name. He had been her superior officer for three years now.

"I'm so nervous." She said.

"That's to be expected, so was I when I came here. Johanssen is a great man, he'll teach you everything you need to know."

"I just hope he doesn't realise he's made a huge mistake."

He walked over and put his hands on her shoulders, "Listen to me, you were the perfect choice. You're an excellent officer, you deserve this. Don't tell anyone but even the Admiral is proud of you."

"Cain?" she said in sheer shock.

"Yes. Even though she isn't coming to see you off."

"Well I couldn't expect her to be proud and come see me off now could I?"

"Listen she's only ever been hard on you because she thinks you're worth the effort."

She didn't believe a word he was saying but she didn't let it show. Cain had been on her back ever since she joined Pegasus and now she couldn't wait to never see the Admiral again.

"Anyway I need to go, I have to be on Orion in less than an hour."

"Well good luck. You ever need any advice or anything you let me know."

"Thank you." They saluted each other before Garrett picked up her things and headed for her new home.

Captain Jimmy "Bojay" Johnson was running at full pelt through Scorpia Fleet shipyards. The shuttle that would take him across the station was about to leave any minute now and he had to be on it.

"Make a hole." He yelled as he ran through the crowds of people. People of all ranks darted out of the way and gave the young pilot some dirty looks as he passed them. He could see the shuttle in front of him. He dived through the doors as they began to close and clattered into the back wall. Everyone had turned to look at him.

"Hey, don't worry I'm fine." He said with a smile as he got back to his feet. He saw an empty seat and sat in it. The young Colonel sat next to him gave him a funny look.

"Hey there. Captain Jimmy Johnson." He said holding out his hand.

"Colonel Vanessa Garrett." she replied shaking his hand.

They sat silently for a few moments. Bojay tapped his hands on the bag containing his flight helmet.

"So where are you heading?" he asked.

Garrett couldn't wait to get away from the pilot.

"Battlestar Orion, I'm the new XO." She said not even looking at him.

"Really? No way, me too." He said a huge smile beaming across his face.

"You?" She said, she hadn't expected that at all.

"Yes ma'am I'm your new lead Raptor Pilot."

Great, she thought, she was going to have to put up with this joker on a day-to-day basis.

"So can I ask, are you any relation to Admiral Lionel Garrett?"

"Yes, he's my father."

"Wow, that's cool. He's a great man." Bojay replied.

"So I'm told."

"You don't get on?"

"Captain, we've only just met I'm not telling you about my relationship or lack of one with my father."

"Sure sure. Sorry I'm just nervous. Oh and call me Bojay."

He had to be kidding, "You're Bojay?" Garrett replied with shock in her voice and on her face.

"I know, most people tend to think I'll be older."

"You're Bojay? You're the man who saved twenty of his squadron by risking your own life taking your Raptor near that black hole."

He looked like a nodding dog with a huge smile.

"Well don't take this the wrong way but you're not what I expected."

"Hey nothings taken the wrong way Colonel, I know I'm far better looking than anyone ever imagined I would be." He said still with a huge smile on his face.

Garrett couldn't help but laugh.

"Wow." Bojay said.

"What?" Garrett replied.

Bojay pointed past her to the window. Garrett turned around.

"Wow."

For the first time they saw the Battlestar Orion through the window. It was massive, at least twice the size of the nebula class Battlestar it was sat next to.

"How many people are going onto that?" Bojay asked not able to take his eyes off it.

"5,000. 450 Vipers 60 Raptors amongst other things."

"I so took the right job." Bojay said.

"Me too." Garrett replied.

"So can I ask where have you come from?"

"Pegasus," she replied, "I was the LSO."

"Did you fly before that?" Bojay asked.

She nodded her head, "Raptor pilot. You're from the Solaria?"

"Sure am, been there since I graduated but couldn't say no when I was offered this job."

"Johanssen just offered you it?" Garrett asked.

Bojay nodded his head, "Yeah, trust me I was as surprised as you. Have you met the old man yet?"

"Yes, once."

"That's once more than me. I spoke to him and was told about Orion, what she was capable of. When he said it was lead pilot and a promotion to Captain I had to take it."

When the shuttle arrived both officers were getting on well. Garrett realised that Bojay wasn't as bad as she had first feared, every squadron had a joker, it would appear he would be Orion's.

As they walked to the airlock lots of other crewmembers were arriving at the same time. As they reached the security checkpoint they were met by two marines who were checking everyone onboard.

"Colonel Vanessa Garrett." She said holding out her Colonial ID.

"Welcome aboard ma'am. Commander Johanssen has asked us to take you to him when you arrive. Private West will take your belongings to your quarter. Private Jones will show to the Commander."

"Thank you Corporal," she turned to Bojay, "Nice to meet you, I'll see you later on."

"You too." He grinned at the Corporal from ear to ear as he held out his ID, "Captain Jimmy Johnson reporting for duty."

"Welcome aboard sir."

Garrett tried to take everything in as she was led through the maze that was Orion. She had no idea how many billions of cubits had been spent creating the ship but it seemed as though no part of it had been skimped on. It looked so futuristic, lots of computer read out screens all over showing different ships systems. As they walked onto the CIC she was amazed at the size of it. Most of the new Battlestars had small CIC's, with Orion it seemed they had gone back to the older larger design. Commander Heinrick Johannsen stood signing some paperwork at the dradis console. He was an imposing figure. Despite his soft tone when he spoke and his aging years he had a fierce reputation in battle. He had survived the first Cylon war and been in the service ever since. Garrett had wondered why he had never made Admiral when she first met him, only to be told later he had turned down the promotion four times, fearing it would lead to a desk job or something else that would no longer allow him to command a Battlestar. He looked up and smiled when he saw his new XO walk in.

Garrett stood to attention and saluted her new Commander.

"Colonel Garrett reporting for duty sir."

"At ease Colonel. It's very good to see you again." He said holding out his hand.

"Likewise. May I just say thank you for choosing me out of all the candidates you had."

"Not at all. May I call you Vanessa?"

"Yes sir, of course sir."

"You showed me the most potential out of everyone I met. I mind ripe for moulding. I foresee great things in your future."

"Thank you sir."

"Have you met anyone else yet?"

"Bojay sir, sorry sir I mean Captain Johnson."

"Wonderful pilot and leader of men that man, I don't know if you noticed but he has an excellent sense of humour. I have only spoken to him so far, I am very much looking forward to meeting him."

"Yes sir."

"There is one thing I must ask of you Vanessa."

"Yes sir, anything sir."

"Relax, I am not Admiral Cain. I would rather my crew did not fear the every word that came out of my mouth."

"Yes sir."

"Come, let me show you the ship, maybe we'll find Bojay along the way."

Bojay had already changed into his flight uniform. The four-man bunk he had been assigned to was larger than the eight-man bunk he had called home on the Solaria. As he finished unpacking the last of his bags a young female pilot walked in. Bojay was immediately taken by the young Lieutenants good looks, short blonde hair and piercing blue eyes.

"Hi I'm Bojay." He said holding out his hand.

The young Lieutenant shook it and smiled back at him, "Lieutenant Jenna "Hawkeye" Riley sir."

"Please call me Bojay or Jimmy." He replied.

"Well, Bojay, I'm your new ECO."

Immediately any thoughts Bojay may have had regarding the young woman changed to being totally professional.

"Well my new ECO it's good to meet you. Been on Orion long?"

"Two days." She replied. "Wanna see our new state of the art straight of the production line Raptor?"

Bojay smiled and nodded, "Lead the way."

The Hanger was lined with brand new Vipers and Raptors, some of which were still having their pilot's names and call signs painted on them. Hawkeye took Bojay straight to their Raptor. It looked slightly larger than the Raptors he was used to flying. He noticed the addition of the two chain cannons underneath as well. He patted his name written on the side with a huge smile on his face. Hawkeye opened the side hatch and stepped aside. The inside was kitted out with state of the art, brand new avionics gear and dradis consoles.

"This is so cool." He said as he stepped inside and sat down in the right hand pilot's chair. It was so much more comfortable than the seat in his old ship. A lot of the controls looked slightly different than what he was used to but he knew they all did the same things as the old ones, "We have to take her out for a spin."

"I was hoping you'd say that. And there's the man you'll need to clear it with." Hawkeye said.

He looked out and saw his new C/O for the first time walking with Colonel Garrett.

"That's my queue!" Bojay said darting back out of the Raptor.

The first the Commander saw of his new lead Raptor pilot was him nearly falling face first out of his Raptor.

"You must be Bojay." The Commander said holding out his hand.

"Yes sir, sorry about the entrance, it's good to finally meet you sir."

"Likewise. Colonel Garrett said she's already met you."

"Yes sir, the Colonel and I are already old friends." He replied patting her on the shoulder.

"You'll be looking forward to meeting your new CAG this afternoon."

"Yes sir I am. I hear she's a hell of a Viper pilot. I just wanted to ask you a question sir."

"Ask away Captain."

"Would it at all be possible if Hawkeye and I took our new Raptor out to see what she's capable of?" He had a huge smile across his face while he asked.

The Commander looked at his new XO and then turned back with a smile on his face.

"I don't see why not."

"Thank you sir." He replied with a salute before winking at Colonel Garrett, "Hawkeye, come on we need to get our helmets."

Johanssen let out a laugh as Bojay dragged Hawkeye away.

"Hard to believe he's the same man who saved all those people." Garrett said.

"Not really. I was talking to his previous C/O, despite the clumsy, funny man routine he is an excellent officer who knows how to get the best out of the men and women who serve with him."

"Now that I am very much looking forward to seeing."

The last stop on the tour was the mess hall. Johanssen and Garrett both sat talking while they ate.

"I have to be honest with you I'm very nervous about this position, I have very little command experience."

"But you have some and you showed the most potential."

"I must have stood watch a dozen times in three years on Pegasus. Admiral Cain was not one for letting inexperienced officers take command of her ship. Colonel Belzen was the one who used to give me watch, usually when Cain was off the ship. He wanted me to learn."

"And that's why I chose you. First of all we have a week of war games starting in a few days. I'm going to leave you in command for quite a lot of it."

Garrett felt a little nervous at the thought of that, she knew she had a lot to prove. She noticed more and more of the new crew coming in to get their food and yet no one was sitting around them. On Pegasus, Cain and Belzen had never eaten in the mess so she wasn't at all used to this.

"Have you noticed no one is sitting near us?" She said.

Johanssen nodded as he ate, "It's always the same at first on Battlestars. The new crew seem to be worried about getting to close to the commanding officers. Don't worry about it. I'm sure Bojay will sit with you while you eat." He gave a little chuckle as he finished speaking.

"Gee thanks." Garrett replied letting out a little laugh of her own.

"Orion this is Bojay we are clearing the Starboard landing bay, see you shortly." He said.

"Raptor one you are clear to go on your way, have fun out there." Major Rae, the ships LSO replied to him.

"Will do ma'am." He replied.

The Raptor sped away into space. Bojay could feel all the improvements to his new ship. It's reaction time was much quicker. He was also not used to having permanent weapons, he hoped he would have no need to use them any time soon.

"Okay where do you want to go?" Hawkeye asked from the back.

"No idea, surprise me." Bojay replied.

"Yes sir." She replied.

"Please don't get in the habit of calling me sir, you make me think my dad is standing behind me and trust me, neither of us want that."

"Anyway, preparing to jump in 5…4…3…2…1."

Both pilots braced themselves for the jump. In the flash of an eye they popped into space. In front of them was a massive asteroid field. They ranged in sizes from the size of a moon to the size of a pebble.

"Wow, where are we?" Bojay asked.

"Zeus belt, near the red line. Not much in the way of traffic gets out here." Hawkeye replied.

"Wow this is amazing." Bojay said, "Fancy a closer look?"

"That depends." Hawkeye replied.

"On what?" Bojay asked.

"Whether or not your going to get us killed on our first time out together?"

"Trust me." He replied as he took the Raptor into the asteroid belt. The proximity warning alarms began to blaze in the cockpit, Bojay reached out and turned them all off.

"That's the last thing we need. I know how close we are." He said with a little laugh.

Hawkeye behind him looked terrified.

With great ease Bojay flew them through the asteroids. Occasionally they could hear some of the smaller ones pinging off the side of the ship.

"You know the Chief will go mad if we damage our Raptor." Hawkeye said.

"A few scratches give a bird character." Bojay replied smiling from ear to ear as they went further into the asteroids, "If you're gonna fly with me Hawkeye you're going to have to learn to appreciate the little things like this."

"I think I might ask for a transfer." She whispered to herself.

7 DAYS BEFORE THE FALL

The media and a crowd of colonial officers watched as Orion moved away from the space dock. The sheer size of it dwarfed everything it passed. It was an impressive sight to behold.

"We've cleared the space dock sir." One of the pilots said.

"Prepare the ship for jump." Johannsen replied.

As people went about their jobs on the CIC Johanssen smiled across at his young XO who stood across from him looking nervous.

"Are you with us Colonel?" he asked.

"Yes sir." She replied.

"Ship is ready for jump sir." Lieutenant Georgia Taylor said.

"Thank you Lieutenant. Colonel if you would do the honour of giving the order." Johanssen asked.

Garrett looked as shocked as she felt, "Yes sir." She picked up her hand set from in front of her, "All hands this is the XO, prepare to jump." She placed the handset back down, "Lieutenant Taylor, jump the ship."

"Aye Colonel." She replied from her station. She opened a channel through her headset, "Ship jumping in 5…4…3…2…1."

Seconds later the massive ship jumped away.

The pilots briefing room was packed. The room had had to be large to contend with the ships complement of pilots. 450 Viper pilots, 60 Raptor pilots and 60 ECO's. Despite the noise they all stood to attention as their CAG, Major Gloria "Sideswipe" Meadows took her position.

"At ease people." She said. Meadows was in her mid thirties, her dirty blonde hair tied back from her face. While she was an attractive woman she had a hard look to her. The large scar on the right hand side of her face didn't help to detract from this.

"We will be conducting war games for the next week. Our battle group will be joining us later today. You will be split into teams, some of you will be Colonials, and others will be Cylons. The aim of this will be to gain unit cohesion and build moral. For a lot of you I know you will think these exercises are redundant as you have been in the fleet for a long time. However you will give them 100% effort or you will find yourself on my bad side and just so you all know that is NOT somewhere any of you want to be, especially at this early stage. For some of you this is your first assignment and I expect the same level of effort from you as well. I'm new to the job is not an excuse I will ever entertain. Captain Shaw the squadron XO and Captain Johnson have a list of which side you will be on, make sure you talk to them to find out where you are. There are a lot of people watching us. This ship is the future of our fleet. It is a great honour to be assigned here. Prove to the Commander and to me that you are worthy of being here, anyone who cannot cut it will be re-assigned somewhere else. Finally if any of you have any questions I am here for you, I will help you in anyway that I can as will Shaw and Johnson. Good hunting in the war games. The first one will begin in six hours." She saluted her men who saluted back before walking out of the room.

"Whoa she could do with a personality transplant." Bojay said to Hawkeye who smiled back at him.

He took the podium with Captain Monica "Blindside" Shaw the squadrons XO.

"Captain." She said shaking his hand.

"Please call me Bojay." He replied.

"Blindside." She replied.

"Do you want me to do the honours?" he asked.

"Be my guest." She replied.

"Okay shut the frak up and give me your eyes," Bojay said. The room quietened down again as they all looked at the two officers, "There are a lot of you here so it may take a little while. We'll call out your names and tell you which side you're batting for. I want no complaints if it turns out you're a toaster." The pilots all gave a laugh, "Just do your jobs and we'll all stay on the Major's good side."

Orion joined it's battle fleet. Four Gunstars, a Medstar, a marine troop carrier and two recovery platforms which also doubled up as platform for fixing damaged ships. Unlink Orion, the Battle group were old, they had until days before belonged to BSG 75 and now Galactica was being decommissioned they had been re-assigned. After the war games they were all due for extensive systems overhauls. Johanssen had requested them to join them early for the war games that were about to begin.

Colonel Garrett stood at the dradis console, she had managed to compose herself and was trying to show confidence. Opposite her stood Major Mae Rae the ships LSO and 2nd Officer who, for the sake of the war game was her XO. Rae a woman in her mid forties had a reputation for not taking any amount of crap from any of her subordinates. Unlike the two officers above her in the ranks she would take no nonsense from any of her officers. Garrett had found it slightly amusing the day before when Bojay had cracked a joke in what would have been an ill-advised attempt to make the hardened officer laugh. Garrett wouldn't have been surprised if they had heard it all the way from the landing bay to the CIC.

"All ships report ready." Rae said.

"Thank you Major." Garrett replied.

Sitting in the gods above the dradis console was Commander Johannsen. She knew that he wouldn't interfere or say anything till the end. He had instructed Rae and the other officers not to suggest any course of action unless they were asked directly by the XO.

"Okay lets do this." She said.

After a few moments of silence Lieutenant Taylor was the one to break it.

"Commander we have four enemy contacts. They're Cylon base ships and they are launching raiders." She said.

"Set condition one throughout the fleet. Launch the alert fighters and instruct gun captains to set up a flak barrier. Instruct the main batteries to begin firing at the nearest base ship."

Bojay and Sideswipe sat in their ships off to the side of where the game was beginning. They had created a section for fighters when they had been "killed". They watched in silence as Orion's Vipers launched to engaged the "enemy".

"This should be interesting." Bojay said.

"Cut the chatter Bojay I don't want to hear your banter." Sideswipe snapped back.

"Yes Sir." He replied.

"And I won't tell you again it's ma'am." She yelled back.

"Yes ma'am." He said back turning to Hawkeye who just grinned back at him.

They watched as they vipers engaged each other.

Garrett stood on the CIC as things began to unfold.

"Incoming nuclear ordinance." Taylor yelled.

"All hands brace for contact." Garrett said, "Launch a barrage of ship to ship missiles at the nearest base ship."

"Aye ma'am." Rae replied.

"Commander we have structural damage on the top side as well as down the starboard landing bay." Taylor yelled.

"Bring us about. Instruct the main battery to switch to salvo fire and continue firing at all four targets."

"We've lost 33 vipers." Rae said.

"Frak." Garrett said.

"We've lost FTL." Taylor said.

"Nearest base ship has been taken out." Rae said.

Bojay watched as more and more vipers from both sides came over to join them. Gunstar two jumped away as it had been "destroyed" and then reappeared next to them. The Raptor shook as the huge ship reappeared.

"Tell Captain Reynolds he jumped back in way too close." Bojay said. This was the first time Hawkeye had heard him sounding annoyed.

"Gunstar two please be informed you jumped in far too close to us." Hawkeye said from behind him.

Bojay watched as Orion moved around as it attacked his enemy. Bojay couldn't help but cringe slightly as he saw Garrett take the ship into its most vulnerable position yet.

"Incoming ordinance, they're aiming for the engines." Rae said.

"Frak, tell the gun cannons to intercept." Garrett replied.

"They're not going to make it in time." Rae replied.

As she finished speaking condition one ended on the ship and the lights on the CIC grew bright again. The ships systems had ended the game after the engines had been hit.

"Frak." Garrett whispered under her breath and hit the console in front of her.

"Bad luck Colonel." Johannsen said as he walked down to the floor.

"Sorry sir, I just got overwhelmed." She replied.

"Don't worry you will improve. Major Rae please re-call all the birds please."

"Aye Commander." Rae said as she picked up the hand set in front of her.

"Come, walk with me." Johannsen said, "Major if you would be so kind as to take the con,"

"Yes sir." She replied.

Garrett let out an huge audible sigh as she followed the commander out.

"I'm so sorry sir." She said.

"Colonel there is nothing to be sorry about. This was your first time in command of a Battlestar. If we're still having this conversation at the end of the week then I will be more concerned. But for now don't beat yourself up so hard."

"It's hard sir. I want to be worthy of all the trust and responsibility you've given me, I need to prove myself to you."

They both stopped walking, "And you will Vanessa. I'll take command this evening and we'll see how things go from there. If I can say one thing to you. Don't be afraid to ask your fellow officers for advice and help."

"Yes sir."

THE DAY OF THE FALL

Colonel Garrett walked the halls of Orion with much more confidence than she had one week before. The war games had continued all week and she had progressed quickly. For the last three days, under her command the Orion hadn't lost once. As she walked onto the CIC she was met by Major Rae.

"Good morning Colonel." She said with a smile.

"Good morning Major, anything to report?" over the last week the two officers had begun to forge a friendship.

"Not much, Colonial HQ are asking for an update of all FTL capable ships, apparently there has been no word from the Armistice station. We sent them our status and they have ordered us to stand by. At the moment they do not believe a recon mission is worthy of Orion's time."

"Fair enough. You may as well head off to bed, I'll take over."

"Yes ma'am." Rae said saluting the XO.

Garrett saluted back. She was ready for another day of war games, her head was full of strategies and battle maneouvers.

As Bojay finished shaving, he noticed the CAG walk in.

"Good morning Major, ready for another day of sitting on the sidelines?" He asked as he put toothpaste onto his toothbrush.

"That's what I want to talk to you about. I want you to lead the squadron today. I think the other Squadron leaders could do with some tips from a pro." Sideswipe said.

Bojay nearly choked on his toothbrush, he had never expected that kind of compliment from his CAG.

"Yes ma'am of course."

"Good. I just wanted to say as long as you keep the goofing around to a minimum and during your off hours, we're going to continue to get along fine." She said with an attempt at a smile.

"Yes ma'am." He replied with a mouth full of toothpaste.

As Commander Johannsen walked onto the CIC he could tell something was wrong. Garrett was stood reading something with a look of utter shock across her face.

"Colonel what's wrong?"

Garrett couldn't speak, she handed the commander the piece of paper. As he read about the nuclear attack on the colonies he knew why his XO was in shock. He knew he had to hold himself together as the crew would be looking to him for guidance. He took a deep breath.

"Lieutenant Taylor please open a channel to the entire battle fleet."

"Aye sir."

"All hands this is the Commander. We have just received word that the Cylons have attacked out colonies. So far they have detonated massive nuclear explosions across half of the colonies. Picon fleet headquarters and a third of the fleet were destroyed in the opening attacks. We are to prepare the ship to join the rest of the fleet for a counter attack at Virgon. This is a new ship and we are all still learning our positions but if there is one thing I have seen over the last week is that you are capable of what is to come. If we all stand together and do our jobs I know we can come through this victorious. Take the pain and the anger you are all feeling now and use it, together we will be victorious." Johannsen put the hand set down, "I want system checks across the ships, all weapons fully loaded and checked. Set condition one throughout the battle group."

The pilots briefing room was quiet. Everyone was in a state of shock. No one noticed the CAG walk in.

"Attention on deck." She bellowed.

All the pilots stood to attention. She looked at them all, now was not the time to go soft on any of them.

"At ease ladies and gentlemen."

They all sat back down, "We will be joining the fleet as you all know for the counter attack. We will join the Viper squadrons of the other fleet. Our jobs will be to take out any and all raiders that come our way. Over the past week I have seen you all progress to a coherent unit that I believe is capable of this task. Stick together, watch your wingman. As soon as you run out of ammunition head back to the ship for reload. The deck gang will have you in and out in a matter of minutes. I want all of you to head to the hanger deck and check your ships over, make sure everything is in full working order. Before we jump we will load the Vipers into the tubes so we are ready to launch as soon as we hit the other side. We will make these metal bastards pay for destroying our homes and killing our people. Good hunting people."

Bojay sat silently for a moment trying to keep his composure. He stood up and took the podium, "Raptors please wait behind."

As all the rest of the pilots left the pilots and ECO's remained in their seats.

"We'll launch after the Vipers." He cleared his throat, "We'll stick closer to Orion than the Vipers. Raptors 10 through 15 you'll be on SAR duty. As the CAG said check everything. I just wanted to say I know we're all feeling the same at the moment not knowing if our families and friends are alive. All you want to do is contact them to make sure they're okay. But now that has to wait. As soon as this is over and we've kicked their asses back to wherever they came from that's when we mourn or rejoice. Either way we have a job to do, hold it together and we'll all make it home."

The ship was bustling with more activity than it had the week previously. People making sure Orion was ready for the coming battle. Colonel Garrett walked onto the CIC and took up her position at the dradis console.

"The Medstar, the platforms and the marine ship are all under instruction to hold back when we get there." She said.

"Good." Johannsen replied.

"Commander the final areas have checked in, Vipers are in the tubes and we're ready to jump." Lieutenant Taylor said from her station.

"Count us down Lieutenant." The commander replied.

"All hands preparing to jump in 10…9…8…7."

"Dradis contact." A voice said from behind them.

"Hold the count." Johannsen ordered, "Identify."

There was silence for a few moment, "Enemy contacts, eight in total."

"Prepare to launch Vipers." As Johannsen finished speaking everything went black. All the ships systems went off line.

"What the Frak." Garrett said.

"Report." Johannsen ordered.

"All ships systems have gone off line. I don't know how but nothing is responding. We're dead in the water." Taylor replied.

Garrett immediately thought that was it.

"Lieutenant get us up and running immediately." Johannsen barked.

"Aye sir."

"Why aren't they on top of us by now?" Garrett asked.

"That is the question isn't it." As he finished speaking emergency power kicked in.

The hanger bay was in chaos. The tubes were locked out with the Vipers trapped inside. Everyone else was starting to panic.

"What the frak?" Bojay said as he got out of his Raptor. People were panicking.

"SHUT THE FRAK UP!" Bojay yelled but no one took any notice. He took out his sidearm and fired a round into the air. That seemed to get everyone's attention.

"Everyone shut the frak up and calm the frak down, NOW." No one had seen this side of Bojay before, he knew he had to take charge of the situation, "Chief contact the CIC."

Chief of the Deck Arthur James, a short balding middle-aged man stepped forward, "I've been trying sir, nothing seems to be responding."

"Hawkeye get to CIC, tell them I've taken command down here and try to find out what the frak is going on." He ordered.

"Yes sir." She replied before running off.

"I want your people to carry on with their jobs and try to get some of these tubes open, start with the CAG."

"Aye sir."

All the pilots not stuck in the tubes had started to gather around, "Right I want you to help the deck crew to get things running down here, help them with anything they want, do as you are instructed. If you cannot find anyone to help report to the Chief and follow his orders to the letter."

He ran over to the Chief who was trying to open the tube where Sideswipe was stuck.

"It's no good sir we can't get it to open." The Chief said.

"Okay get the tube control room open." Bojay replied.

Moments later the door was being cut open. Moments later they were inside. He saw Sideswipe sitting in her Viper. Not even the com unit was working. Bojay pointed to his hand held radio and Sideswipe picked up hers.

"What's going on Captain?"

"I've not idea. The ship seems to have lost all power. Nothing is working except for emergency generators, everything has shut down. I've got everyone doing what they can to get systems online and get you guys out of the tubes."

"Has there been any contact with the CIC?" she asked.

"No, I sent Hawkeye to see what was going on and what we can do to help."

"Good Captain. Leave getting the Vipers out of the tubes, we have plenty of oxygen and there are more important things to be fixing."

"Yes ma'am."

"Bojay."

"Yes."

"Good work holding it together."

One of the pilots came bursting in.

"Sir someone is trying to come in through one of the airlocks."

"Frak." Bojay said as he darted out of the control room, "Chief do as the Major ordered, forget the tubes for now. He grabbed several pilots and marines and headed to the airlock.

There were two marines already there with weapons drawn.

"Sir someone is cutting through the airlock." One of the marines said.

"Okay people weapons drawn but do not fire until I give the order."

The five pilots and four marines all stood waiting, with weapons drawn. The next two minutes seemed to last an eternity. As the door fell off it's hinges they all gave a sigh of relief as they saw marines come through.

"Sergeant it's fraking good to see you. What happened out there?" Bojay asked.

"We saw Orion loose power. The Gunstars took up a defensive formation around her and took out the raiders. It seems the Cylons have used a virus to cripple Orion, for some reason it didn't work on the rest of the battle group."

"Thank the Gods for old machinery." Bojay said, "Come with me to the CIC, the rest of you stay here and help out in any way you can."

As Hawkeye walked onto the CIC everyone was working trying to get the ship up and running again. Hawkeye walked over to the commander who was busy rewiring some circuitry.

"Commander." Hawkeye said.

"Yes Lieutenant." He replied as he carried on.

"Bojay has taken command of the hanger deck. There are vipers stuck in the tubes. He has everyone doing what they can to get things up and running again."

"Very good." Johannsen replied.

"Sir please forgive me but what happened?"

"We're not sure yet." He replied.

"Then maybe we can shed some light on the situation." Bojay said as he walked up to them with the marine sergeant, "Commander this is Sergeant Milner from the troop carrier."

The commander looked up from his work.

"What happened out there Sergeant?"

"Well as you know eight raiders jumped in. It would appear they broadcast some kind of virus. When Orion went dead in the water the Gunstars took up a defensive position and destroyed the raiders. It would appear that none of the other ships were effected. Maybe it's because the ships are old, maybe it's because our computers are not linked. The Gunstar captains are keeping a defensive formation."

"Did they try to contact the fleet?" Johannsen asked.

"No sir, with Orion defenceless the other Captains didn't want any messages intercepted."

After six hours there had been no more enemy contact. A virus had indeed crippled the ship. Once it had been located the entire ships systems had been purged and reloaded. The CIC stood with baited breath waiting to see if all their hard work had been successful.

"Bring the ships systems back online please." Johannsen said.

"Aye sir." Lieutenant Taylor said.

"Here goes nothing." Garrett said.

They all waited in silence and then moments later all the main lights and ships systems came back online.

"How long before we can get underway?" Johannsen asked.

Major Rae who had been on CIC helping replied, "It's going to take my teams at least an hour to make the Vipers and Raptors safe. They crews with already be working on them now sir."

"Excellent Major, keep me informed." Johannsen said.

"Sir I'm receiving a message from Gunstar one. Captain Jeffers says it's nice to see us back online and there has been no word whatsoever from the fleet." Taylor said.

"Inform the Captains of our status and that we will be back underway as soon as possible." Johannsen replied.

"So what now sir?" Garrett asked.

"We wait until everyone is ready and then go join the fight." He replied.

"Sir if there has been no word it cannot be good." She replied.

"I will not give in to conjecture Colonel. Until we know for sure we stick with the plan."

Bojay and Hawkeye were in their Raptor making the systems safe.

"I can't believe this." Bojay said, "We get this brand new toy to play with and we have to disconnect half the gods damn systems."

"Better to be safe than sorry though." Hawkeye replied.

Major Rae poked her head into the Raptor.

"How is the progress?" she asked.

"Coming along well. We should be up and running shortly." Bojay replied.

Lieutenant Taylor tried to compose herself as she read the message that came through in front of her. She tore off the print out and took it down to the commander.

"Sir this has just come through. It was originally sent over an hour ago." She said as she passed the printout to her C/O. As he read it, it felt as though the ground had gone from underneath him.

"Commander what is it?" Garrett asked.

"The fleet, it's gone." He replied handing her the piece of paper.

She held her hand to her mouth in total shock as she read the message.

"The whole fleet, Negala, they're all dead." Garrett said in utter shock, "What do we do now?" she said.

Johannsen once again picked up his handset.

"All hands this is the commander. We have just received word that the fleet is gone. Admiral Negala, the Atlantia, all of them were destroyed in the fight. I know what you are all thinking, what do we do now? How do we survive? Here is something you do not know, this ship was built because of the ever present threat of the Cylons. She was built for this day. She was built to destroy and that is what we will do. We will go to Virgon and see if we can find any survivors. While we are there should we come face to face with our enemy we will crush them with every weapon at our disposal. We will make the Cylons fear this ship and this crew so much so that the very Gods will take notice of us. We will make the Cylons pay for every life they have taken today. I know that every single one of you is capable. We will be victorious." He put the phone down and let out a sigh.

"I want every weapon ready for the jump to the other side. The second we see a Cylon ship I want gun captains ready to fire."

"Sir the battle group reports ready." Garrett said.

"Tell Gunstar Four to stay behind with the Medstar and other ships, we will only be taking the other three Gunstars."

"Aye sir." She replied.

The next hour came and went. Despite all the emotion the whole crew was feeling they were all ready to fight, confident that the work they had been doing was enough to protect them. Sideswipe picked up a handset on the hanger deck.

"Lieutenant Taylor please inform the Commander that all birds are ready down here. We are about to reload them into the tubes." She said.

"Commander all the birds are ready." She said, "The CAG is having them reloaded into the tubes."

"Tell Gunstars one two and three to prepare for the jump." Johanssen said.

"Aye sir." She replied.

"Are you ready Colonel?" Johannsen asked.

"Yes sir I am." Garrett replied. Watching him over the past few hours hold the ship and the crew together had given her strength, she felt ready for anything that was about to come her way.

"Gunstars and Vipers report ready sir."

"Star the jump." Johannsen ordered.

"All hands prepare to jump in 5…4…3…2…1."

As Orion jumped into Virgon space there was wreckage everywhere which could be seen on dradis.

"Lieutenant send out a recall message across all colonial broadcast signals." Johannsen ordered.

"Dradis contact sir." There was a pause of silence for a few seconds, "Six signals, they're colonial, four Raptors and two Vipers."

"Give them priority clearance to land." Garrett said.

"Dradis contact. It's the Cylons sir. Four base ships on an intercept course. They're launching raiders."

"Launch Vipers. Begin flak suppression barrage. Lock on to the centre axis of the nearest base ship full barrage."

The 450 strong Viper squadrons began to launch from Orion.

"Okay ladies and gentlemen keep out of Orion's firing solution and do not stray too far. Open racks and engage." Sideswipe ordered.

"Direct hit on the nearest base ship, they are attempting to pull back." Garrett said.

"Instruct batteries 14 through 20 to switch to salvo fire and destroy it." Johannsen replied, "Target the other three base ships three volleys at full spread."

As Bojay and Hawkeye launched the first thing they saw was the nearest base ship to them explode.

"Now that's what I like to see." He said to himself.

The other Raptors took up their positions and fired their own missile barrage into the oncoming raiders, taking out at least a dozen and making the others turn back. Bojay could see the base ships firing missiles at Orion, everyone hitting the flak barrier, nothing able to get through. The Raptors fired another volley of missiles at the next wave of oncoming raiders, this time a few managed to get through.

"Raptors begin to scatter we have incoming." Bojay ordered.

Bojay banked the raptor upwards and fired the raptors chain cannons as he did taking out one of the raiders.

"Bojay we have a new contact that's just appeared, it's colonial." Hawkeye said.

"Get on the horn to Orion." Bojay ordered back.

On Orion CIC there was constant chatter as people relayed information from their posts.

"Commander a colonial transport has just jumped into the fight." Taylor said.

"Tell one of the raptors to intercept and take them to the rest of the battle group. Have the nearest Gunstar give them cover." Johannsen said.

"Commander another base ship has been destroyed the other two are backing off out of weapons range and recalling their fighters." Garrett said.

"Tell the vipers and raptors fall back."

"Aye sir."

"Okay boys and girls you heard the XO lets fallback." Bojay said.

He took their Raptor back and watched as the others formed up along side them, the vipers were doing the same.

"How many did we loose?" Bojay asked.

Hawkeye checked her dradis console, "No raptors. It looks like we've lost seven vipers though."

"Frak. Sideswipe this is Bojay."

"Bojay you okay over there?" she replied.

"Yes ma'am I was calling in to ask the same."

"All fine over here. Your raptors did good."

"Thank you."

The pilots watched through the wreckage as the two base ships jumped away from the fight.

"All fighters return to the barn, repeat all vipers return to the barn." Taylor said over the com.

"Okay guys lets head back in." Sideswipe said.

"What now sir?" Garrett asked

"We head back to the others and formulate our plan of action." Johannsen replied.

Garrett was impressed with him. She was now seeing the things she could learn from him in the battles that were to come.

"Have one of the pilots we rescued meet me in my quarters."

"Yes sir."

"As soon as everyone is onboard jump back and come see me."

Johannsen was met in his quarters by Lieutenant Barry "Sober" Marshall and his XO.

"Please Lieutenant sit." Johannsen said.

The young lieutenant looked to be in a state of shock.

"What happened?" Johannsen asked.

Marshall ran his hands through his hair, "It was the most fraked up thing I've ever seen in my life. The fleet, the vipers, the raptors all of them, just as they were about to engage the enemy lost all power. They couldn't even defend themselves. The raiders and base ship launched missiles and just kept firing till everyone was dead."

"How did you survive?" Garrett asked.

"I'm not sure. My Viper is one of the first Mk VIIs they made. Maybe because it's old? I just don't know. We just hid in the wreckage. I don't know what we would have done if you hadn't come and found us. I just sat there watching as the nukes exploded over Virgon. My gods all those people, they're just being slaughtered. Sir we have to do something."

"Don't worry Lieutenant we will. You've had quite an ordeal, I want you to go an get some rest." Johannsen said.

"With all due respect sir I want to fight. If you're taking Orion back I want to be involved."

"Right now Lieutenant we're still looking at our options so I want to get some rest. I promise that as soon as we get back into the fight you'll know."

"Yes sir."

As the young Lieutenant left the room they both sat in silence for a few minutes.

"So what are we going to do?" Garrett asked.

"There must be people left out there, we have to find them and take them somewhere safe. We need to make supply runs, once we've done all this we leave the system."

"Leave?" Garrett asked.

"Yes we leave. Have Sideswipe, Blindside and Bojay come to my quarters."

"Of course."

As Garrett made the call Johannsen poured them both a drink of whiskey and drank his down in one. He picked up a photograph on his desk and looked at it. Both of his daughters were living in Caprica City with their husbands and his grandchildren. He couldn't bring himself to say it out loud but he feared the worst.

Bojay was the last to make it to the commander's quarters, he quickly apologised for his delay and sat down with the others.

"Thank you all for coming." Johannsen said, "I want to divide the Raptor squadrons up into groups of two and head out looking for survivors. I intend to have Orion and three of the Gunstars to do the same."

"Sir where are we going to take any survivors we might find?" Blindside asked.

"I am open to any suggestions you may have." Johannsen replied.

"I have an idea sir. When Hawkeye and I took our Raptor out the day I got here, she took us out to Zeus belt."

"An asteroid belt?" Garrett asked sounding surprised.

"Yes ma'am there is nothing in the way of traffic out there and even if the Cylons were to come out there they would never find us on dradis." Bojay replied.

"And wouldn't that be the same for us?" Sideswipe replied.

"No, we post Raptors at certain points on the outside of the belt powered down. They can be close enough to the edge not to be seen but far enough out to be able to use dradis."

"That's not a bad idea." Johannsen said.

"Some of the asteroids out there are the size of planets and some of them are hallow enough to be able to park ships." Bojay said.

"What about getting a ship the size of Orion in there?" Garrett asked.

"There are clear paths at certain points that we could get in there. Or we don't put Orion in there at all, take the Gunstars in and leave Orion near to the outside with some cover."

"Bojay I want you to take your Raptor out there and scout the area. See what you can see and then report back. If you see any enemy contacts you jump back immediately."

"Yes sir."

"No heroics."

"Don't worry sir my taste for heroics diminished the first time I engaged a raider. I'll get back to you as soon as we can."

Bojay and Hawkeye walked through the hanger deck towards their Raptor they were met by the Chief.

"Sir your Raptor has been refuelled and armed and is ready to go." He said as they walked.

"Very good." Bojay replied.

Both pilots got into their bird.

"You okay?" Bojay asked.

"Yeah, can't stop thinking about my brother." She replied.

"Where is he?"

"Picon at university."

"What about your folks?" he asked.

"They died ten years ago, its been me and Nathan ever since."

"I hope he's okay."

"Thanks. What about your family?"

"No idea." He replied, "Haven't spoken to them in years, every since my dad said I was the biggest loser he'd ever met."

"He said that to you?" Hawkeye said.

"Yeah the day I graduated top of my class."

Hawkeye didn't know what to say.

"Orion this is Raptor one, we are on accent to the flight deck, requesting permission to launch." Bojay said.

"Bojay this is Orion you are clear for take off. Be careful out there and good hunting." Major Rae said from the other end of the con.

"Will do Major we'll be back in no time." Bojay replied.

As the Raptor reached the flight deck, Bojay powered up the engines and took off. Moments later they were out into space.

"Okay take us to Zeus belt." Bojay said.

"Jumping in 5…4…3…2…1." Hawkeye said.

The Raptor jumped away and appeared right where they had the week before.

"Jump complete, as far as I can see dradis is clear." Hawkeye said.

"Okay, lets see what we can see." Bojay said moving into the belt. They both sat in silence as they moved further into the belt, both watching carefully for any sign of any Cylons. So far everything was looking good.

"I'm going to take us in closer to one of the big ones, make sure there's nothing hiding in wait." Bojay said.

"No problem. FTL is ready as soon as we need it."

The Raptor weaved in and out of the asteroids as it approached one of the largest ones.

"It looks like this thing may be hallow. My gods look at it, it's almost the size of a planet." He said, "Holy frak."

"What?" Hawkeye asked.

"Ships, colonial ships." Bojay said.

Hawkeye came to the front and saw the hidden ship, "There must be fifty of them." She said.

The COM began to crackle and a voice came through.

"This is Captain Jonas of the Starburst can you hear me?" a male voice said.

"Loud and clear Starburst, this is Captain Johnson from the Battlestar Orion. You guys okay out here?"

"We are now." Jonas replied, "Have many other people survived?"

"I'm afraid to say you're the first people we've found. It's been a slaughter out there. We have to head back to out Battlestar to let them know we found you."

"I'll inform the others to get ready to move out."

"No stay put, your far safer here."

"Surely we're far safer with a Battlestar?" Jonas replied.

"We're looking for somewhere to hide. You have my word that someone will be back with you very shortly."

"Okay. What should we do if the Cylons find us before you come back?"

"Jump to the Regis system. There is a nebula there you will be able to hide in till we find you."

"Will do."

Bojay turned the Raptor back towards open space.

"Dradis contact." Taylor said, "It's Raptor one."

"Here's hoping they've had some luck." Garrett said.

"Commander Bojay is asking to speak to you."

"Put him on speakers."

"Orion Actual this is Bojay. Zeus' belt is clear and we've found nearly fifty civilian ships." Bojay said.

"Well done captain. Relay the co-ordinates to the CIC and get back onboard."

"Yes sir."

"Inform one of the Gunstars to take the rest of the battle group to Zeus' belt. I want the SAR missions to be ready within the hour."

"Yes sir." Garrett replied.

Orion, the three remaining Gunstars and most of the Raptors were ready to begin the SARs missions. All the ships began to jump away. Orion jumped away and appeared in one of the busiest shipping lanes near Caprica. Once again dradis was littered with wreckage.

"Jump complete." Taylor said.

"Begin broadcasting the message." The commander said.

"Aye sir." She replied.

"So how long to we wait?" Garrett asked.

"As long as we can." Johannsen replied.

"Sir the remaining Raptors have launched and are preparing to begin their jumps." Taylor said.

"Very good Lieutenant. So I've been thinking we're going to have to make supply and rescue runs to the colonies."

"That's going to be dangerous." Garrett replied.

"If indeed we are the only remaining Battlestar we have to rescue as many people as we can or risk our race being wiped out."

"Don't get me wrong sir I totally agree, we're just going to have to plan this very well."

"I was thinking we could disguise them as hit and run attacks. Jump Orion in above the colonies and distract the Cylons while our Raptors jump to the surface. Then when they're done they can jump back out from the atmosphere."

"That takes a lot of skill for any pilot." Garrett said.

"Then it's fortunate that we have good pilots." The commander replied.

"How long do we keep these missions going for? One trip to each planet?"

"As many as it takes." He replied.

Five hours later twelve more civilian ships had taken up formation around Orion. The final Raptor jumped in with four more civilian ships.

"Commander Raptor 31 reports no more signs of civilian ships." Taylor said.

"Inform the Raptors to come back aboard and send the jump coordinates."

"Yes sir."

"This will have to do for now." Johannsen said.

When everyone was ready Orion and the sixteen ships jumped to Zeus' belt. When they arrived the rest of the battle group was back as well. In total 122 ships had been found.

"Lieutenant Taylor please ask all the ships captains to come over to Orion. Colonel Garrett you have the deck."

"Aye sir."

The commander walked away.

"Just think any of us could have friends or even family out there." Taylor said.

"I wouldn't get too excited Lieutenant, that way hopefully you wont be as disappointed." Garrett replied.

The civilian ships captains all sat in the pilots briefing room. The commander walked in and took his position at the podium.

"First of all I would like to thank you all for coming. I will cut straight to the point all the rumours you have heard are true. The Cylons jumped into the orbits of all twelve of the colonies earlier today and launched immediate nuclear strikes. Our fleet as far as we know have all been destroyed by the Cylons."

"Oh my gods, what the frak are we going to do?" one of the captains said.

"Well first things first we are not going to panic. I intend to keep running search and rescue missions to find as many survivors as I can. Then after that we intend to launch rescue and supply missions from each of the colonies."

"Then what?" another captain shouted, "We just wait here for the Cylons to find us?"

"I have my crew looking for as many places to hide as possible. We will regularly jump to different places. Once I am satisfied that we have everyone and everything we can find we will jump away and try to find somewhere else to live."

"And who put you in charge?" the first captain said again.

"No one. Any of you are free to go and do whatever you want but be aware without the protection of this ship you do not stand much of a chance should the Cylons find you. You are all welcome to stay here with us, I strongly urge you all to stay here. We could be the last of our species and we need to stick together. Now I want a show of hands right now from everyone who wants to stay."

There was silence as one after the other the captains began to raise their hands. After a few minutes everyone's hands were raised.

"Excellent. Now what I need you all to do is to go back to your ships and make lists of everyone you have onboard so that anyone searching for friends or family members have a better chance of finding them. We also need to stock check all our supplies, food, medical, water and fuel. That way we know what we are looking for when we run supply missions. Does anyone have any questions?"

Silence once again fell on the room, "Orion is here to answer any questions you have. I noticed that as well as the repair platforms we already have in the battle group there are also a few amongst the civilian ships. Any repair problems you have must be noted and fixed as soon as possible. For now go back to your ships, tell your crews and your passengers what we are intending to do. Try to quash any fears that people have, try to give them hope, because without that we are all doomed. Sorry to bring you over here for just five minutes of your time but thank you all for coming. We will hold regular meetings like this so that any questions or grievances can be heard. Good evening all of you."

2 DAYS AFTER THE FALL

Bojay stood in the pilots briefing room with Raptor pilots sat waiting for him to speak. It had been a tough couple of days. There had been no time for him to even think of looking for any of his family in the fleet, if he was honest he wasn't sure that he even wanted to. He had a job to do and so far it was going well. Vipers had so far had six losses in skirmishes with the Cylons, Raptors hadn't as yet lost any.

"Okay boys and girls you've heard the rumours now here are the facts. We are running a supply mission to Caprica. It's only going to be the twelve of us this time as we are the most experienced pilots. Orion is going to jump into Caprica's orbit and pick a fight with the Cylons. Then while the shit is hitting the fan we are going to jump into Caprica's upper atmosphere and hopefully Orion's attack will have them all looking the other way. I'll be leading Raptor's 2-6 here. We know this is a depot that should be full of all kinds of food. We load up the Raptors with as much as we can and jump back home. Raptor's 10-15 will jump here and the marines with you will do a sweep of the area to see if they can find any survivors. Both areas are far enough away from any cities so hopefully there should be no Cylon activity."

"Hopefully?" one of the pilots said.

"Unfortunately yeah, hopefully is the best I can offer you. Should any of us come into contact with any Cylons were are to get the frak out of dodge as fast as we can."

"And if we're successful?" one of the other pilots said.

"If we are then this will be the first of many. And we think we'll only be able to use Orion as cover for a certain amount of these missions before the toasters realise what we're up to. There are talks if we manage this and they continue to be a success then we will try and hit all twelve colonies at once."

"At once?" Hawkeye exclaimed.

"Guys I know these missions are a lot to ask but we have to do this. We have to find as many people and as many supplies as possible before we leave this system for good. Listen I know this is a big ask but I know you guys are more than capable. You're marines and deck crew who have been assigned to you will be the ones going into the buildings and the hot zones. We have to stay with the birds. They've been instructed to not wander too far but if it comes to it we have to buy them enough time to get back to us."

"You mean with a fire fight?" a pilot asked.

"If that's what it takes. One marine will stay behind with each Raptor and we'll each be armed with rifles and grenade launchers. We can do this, skids up in 20 minutes, good hunting guys."

Twenty minutes later everyone was in position and ready. Nerves were high. None of them really knew if they were about to try would work or not.

The Raptors watched as Orion jumped away.

"Okay boys and girls we jump in one minute, give the Orion chance to kick some ass." Bojay said.

"You okay?" Hawkeye asked.

"Yeah I'm fine, you?"

"Very very nervous." She replied.

"We've got to try and think positive about this and stay on our game." Bojay said.

"Easier said than done."

"Trust me." Bojay said with his usual cocky smile, which actually seemed to help her a little.

"Gunstar one this is Bojay we're about to launch."

"Bojay, Gunstar one, good hunting and we'll see you soon." Came the reply.

"Okay guys stand by to jump in 10..9..8..7..6..5..4..3..2..1..jump." Hawkeye said.

When the Raptors came out of the jump they were hurtling through the atmosphere. Bojay was manage to fight against the flight controls to keep the Raptor steady.

"Jump complete, all Raptors accounted for. Dradis is clear. All Raptors break and head to your landing zones." Hawkeye said.

Bojay lead his team of Raptors quickly through the sky. He was trying not to pay attention to the devastation his home planet had seen over the last two days and kept his mind on the job.

"All Raptors target in sight, let's get this over with." Bojay said.

From the sky the area looked clear, he just prayed it was inside as well. They all landed their birds as close to the factory as they could. Moments later they were all heading out of their birds.

"Remember guys as quick as you can, we'll hold the fort." Hawkeye said.

The factory was in quite a secluded area. The six marines who stayed behind took up position. Bojay took out his sidearm and hoped he wouldn't have any need for it.

"You okay?" Hawkeye asked.

"Yeah, you know if you don't look up at the sky it doesn't look that bad." He replied.

"I didn't expect the sky to look so grey." Hawkeye replied.

"It looks like it's going to start raining soon." Bojay said.

"We should make the most of being here, I don't think there will be many more chances to see home."

"I just hope Orion is doing okay."

"Third base ship destroyed." Garrett said, "The other three are starting to back off."

"They're afraid of us." The commander said, "They don't like it when we fight back. Order batteries 5 thru 9 to switch to salvo fire, aim all off them towards the nearest base ship."

"Aye sir." Garrett replied picking up her handset.

"Commander Sideswipe reports Vipers are running low on ammo." Taylor said.

"Give the recall order and prepare the ship to jump."

"Yes sir." Taylor replied.

Johannsen looked up to see the Cylons were indeed backing off Orion. The warship was certainly living up to its reason for being made. They had taken on multiple targets and come away with minimal damage. The Cylons certainly had good reason to fear Orion.

"Fourth base ship destroyed." Garrett said.

"All vipers are back aboard commander." Taylor said.

"I hope we've bought them enough time." Johannsen said to himself, "Jump the ship."

"All hands prepare to jump in 5..4..3..2..1…jump."

The deck crews had begun to bring pallets of supplies to the Raptors.

"Everything okay in there?" Bojay asked.

"Yes sir, there is no sign anyone has been here." A marine replied, "There are a lot of supplies here, more than we can fit in these raptors."

"We'll have to think about coming back here with a bigger ship." Bojay replied as the Raptors started to get loaded.

As the deck crew and marines headed back inside the others heard movement from behind them. They all raised their weapons and took up a defensive position. They all breathed a sigh of relief when a young woman stumbled towards them.

"Thank the gods." She said.

Bojay holstered his weapon and ran over to her.

"Are you okay?" he asked helping her back towards the ship.

"I saw your ships, I've been living in the woods. Where did you come from?" she asked.

"The Battlestar Orion. He replied, we came here for supplies. I'm Bojay."

"I'm Kate, will you take me with you?" she asked with tears in her eyes.

"Of course. Do you need any anti radiation meds?" he asked.

She nodded her head, "I took some the day of the attack. There was a pilot in a uniform like yours, I found him and he gave me some."

Hawkeye went into the ship for some meds.

"What happened to him?" Bojay asked.

"I don't know. Some Cylons found us, he ended up in a gunfight with them and we were separated, I haven't seen him since. I haven't had any of this since then, will I be okay?" she asked as Hawkeye handed her a needle.

"I don't know how it works, I'm sure you'll be fine but we'll have our doctor take a look at you when we get back."

"Thank you, do you have anything to drink?"

"Sure I'll help you inside and I'll get you something."

Bojay helped the young woman into the co-pilots seat on his Raptor and handed her a bottle of water.

"Have you seen any Cylons in this area at all?" he asked.

"No I haven't seen anyone since I lost track of the other pilot."

"That's good. I have to go back outside but stay here, we'll be underway soon."

"Okay."

Bojay walked back to the others.

"She okay?" Hawkeye asked.

"I think so, we'll have to get the doc to take a look at her when we get back."

It took a further twenty minutes before the Raptors were full. All the crews were back onboard.

"Okay boys and girls make sure you've got the co-ordinates for home ready for the off." Hawkeye said.

Moments later all six Raptors were starting to take off. Bojay led the squadron towards the heavens.

"Okay everybody ready to jump in 5..4..3..2..1 jump."

All six birds blinked away and were thrown back out of the jump at the other side.

"You okay?" Bojay asked as he steadied the Raptor.

Kate nodded her head, "Wow this is amazing, I've never been in space before."

"It is beautiful out here." Bojay replied.

"Orion this is Hawkeye."

"Colonel the first of the Raptors are back." Taylor said.

Garrett was the officer on deck.

"I have Hawkeye on the horn."

"Put her through."

"Orion this is Hawkeye mission was a success we have Raptors full of supplies."

"Very well done Lieutenant. Did you come across any enemy contact?" Garrett replied.

"No ma'am is was clear sailing. We have a survivor as well she'll need to see the doc though."

"Is she okay?"

"She hasn't had any anti rad meds for the last day or so."

"Okay I'll inform sickbay to expect her."

"Are the others back yet?" Hawkeye asked.

"Not yet."

An hour later Bojay walked into sickbay and saw Kate lying in a bed with one of the nurses with her. He smiled and waved as he walked over to Dr Hammond.

"How is she?" he asked.

"Dehydrated. As for anything else it's too early to say. I'm going to transfer her over to the Medstar later on so they can keep an eye on her."

"Okay, can I talk to her?" Bojay asked.

"Sure."

Bojay walked over to the young woman and sat himself down.

"How you feeling?" he asked.

"Like a human pincushion." She laughed, "But on the whole much better thank you."

"Good. Doc tells me they're transferring you over to the Medstar later on to keep an eye on you."

"She tells me it's too early to tell if I have radiation sickness."

"And even if you do, we found you so early I'm sure there will be something they can do for you."

"Even if I do and they can't I'm just so thankful to be here. I don't mind dying as long as I'm not on my own." She said.

"You'll be fine, trust me." He said.

She laughed, "Will you come over and see me? You're the only person I know."

"Of course I will, just try and stop me."

"Thank you, for everything." She said.

"It's no problem, I'm just glad that you saw us."

"Captain Johnson to the hanger bay." A voice said over the ships COM, "Captain Johnson to the hanger bay."

"That's me." Bojay said, "I'll try and come by to see you before you go."

"Whenever you get the chance."

As Bojay walked onto the hanger deck he saw the other Raptors had returned and they had found survivors. The commander was already there.

"Commander." Bojay said walking up to him.

"Bojay, looks like another successful mission."

"It certainly does." He replied.

"Put together the schedule we spoke of earlier."

"Yes sir."

"We have to keep this up as often as we can."

7 DAYS AFTER THE FALL

The last seven days had been very eventful. Not only had they found a few more civilian ships they had been running at least two successful missions to the Colonies every day.

Commander Johannsen sat in his quarters drinking his morning coffee and checking over some paper work. He enjoyed this part of his day, the calm before the oncoming storm. He had signed off on the mission to go to all twelve colonies at the same time. It worried him, the possibility he was sending the young men and women to their possible deaths but it needed to be done. As he finished the last sip of his coffee the phone in his quarters began to buzz. He picked it up and spoke.

"Good morning." He said.

"Good morning sir. We need you to come to the CIC, we've found something." Lieutenant Taylor replied.

"I'm on my way." He said.

Major Rae stood as the officer on deck. She met the commander as he walked in.

"What have we found Major?" he asked.

"One of the Raptors we sent out has found the remains of a civilian fleet. It appears these ships have been striped for parts by the Pegasus and the people left to die." She said.

"Are you sure?"

"As sure as I can be sir."

"Have the Raptors and shuttles prepare to get those people off the ships. Tell Gunstars 1 to 4 come with us."

"Yes sir."

"All Raptor and shuttle crews report to the hanger deck for immediate transport of stranded civilians." Rae said over the COM.

"Gunstars are ready sir." Taylor said.

"Jump the ship immediately." Johannsen said.

"All hands prepare for jump in 5..4..3..2..1 jump."

Orion and the Gunstars jumped and reappeared near the stranded fleet.

"Lieutenant Taylor make sure all the pilots and crews try to quash and civilian worries, we are here to help."

All the Orion's Raptors and shuttles began to launch and head towards the stranded ships.

"Launch the alert Vipers we don't want to get caught with our pants down if the Cylons appear."

Bojay and Hawkeye flew along with 4 other Raptors and two shuttles to the Scylla. They docked in the hanger bay.

"Keep the engines running." Bojay said as he got off the Raptor. He and a few other personnel were met by a number of civilians.

"We have nothing left for you to take." One of the civilians screamed as they walked in.

"We're here to rescue you. My name is Captain Johnson I'm from the Battlestar Orion."

"Why should we trust you, the military have been here before, they took everything and murdered some of us."

"You have my word we are only here to help. Now we can't take all of you at once but we will keep coming back till every single one of you is safe. Please can you start to come in an orderly fashion and we will make this as quick as we possibly can."

The civilians began to follow them and they loaded up on the ships.

Half an hour later and most of the civilians had been offloaded to the Orion and the Gunstars.

"Commander Bojay reports he has one more trip to make back to the Scylla." Taylor said.

"What is the status of the other ships?" the commander asked.

"Nearly all done, everyone is down to their last trip." She replied.

As she finished speaking dradis began to beep.

"Sir the Cylons have found us." Taylor said.

"Set condition one. Is Bojay on his way back yet?" the commander asked.

"No sir he's just about to set off."

"That's a long way to go for a few people." Garrett said.

The commander stood silently for a moment thinking things through.

"Bojay is on his way back sir to the Scylla." Taylor said, "Raiders are inbound."

"Tell the vipers to engage, move Orion and the Gunstars between the Cylons and the Scylla."

"Yes sir."

Bojay flew back for his last trip.

"Holy frak have you seen what's going on out there?" Hawkeye said.

"Hawkeye keep your eyes on the prize. Tell me if any raiders get anywhere near us, I'm arming weapons just in case."

The civilian transport still seemed a long way away.

"Commander a group of raiders have broken off and are heading towards Bojay." Garrett said.

"Have gold squadron intercept and give him cover."

"Bojay we have eight raiders on an intercept course." Hawkeye said.

"Ignore them." Bojay replied.

"Surely we should head back."

"IGNORE THEM." Bojay replied.

As the raiders moved ever closer, twenty vipers shot past the Raptor and engaged the enemy.

Minutes later Bojay was docking for the last time. He darted out of the Raptor and onto the Scylla.

"Ladies and gentlemen we have to move as quickly as we can, the Cylons have found us."

The seven men and women followed him quickly to the waiting ship.

"Okay one of you in the front with me, the rest find a space in the back. This is going to be a very bumpy ride." Bojay said.

As the back of the Raptor closed Bojay began to move away. As he moved out into space they could see just how close the battle had got. Before he could relay to Orion he was on his way back a raider appeared from nowhere in front of him. He instinctively pressed the trigger and the small ships chain cannons came to life tearing the enemy ship in two.

"Orion this is Bojay we are on our way back now. The last civilian transport is clear."

"Order the Gunstars to jump back and the vipers to cover Bojay." Johannsen said.

"Sir one of the base ships is trying to flank us to get to the civilians." Garrett said.

"Launch a barrage of missile at their centre access." The commander ordered.

Near missed rocked the Raptor as it flew at full pelt back to Orion flanked either side by Raptors. Bojay fought against the controls as one of the vipers flying their escort was hit by a raider and exploded next to them.

"Frak me that was too close." Bojay said.

"Are we even going to make it?" the man next to him asked.

"I always make it, this is a cake walk." Bojay replied. He didn't want to let on just how nervous he was beginning to get.

"Bojay this is the LSO the landing bay is clear for you and the vipers." Rae said over the con.

"Be there as soon as we can Major." He replied.

He could see Orion begin to turn to give them more cover. Behind them two of the civilian transports exploded from enemy fire. Moments later they were flying into the landing bay with the vipers behind them.

42 DAYS AFTER THE FALL

Things had been getting quieter amongst Orion's fleet. A new kind of every day living was beginning to take shape. While the missions to the surface of the colonies were still an everyday occurrence supplies were getting harder to find, as were survivors. The Commander was on his way to a meeting with a man who had been the Mayor of Caprica City before the fall. He had no idea what the meeting was going to be about but he knew the man. Milo Vents was a war hero. He had been a viper pilot during the first Cylon war and had more kills than any other pilot during the entire fight. There was a nock on the door to his quarters. Johannsen opened it and saw Vents standing waiting.

"Commander, good to see you again, it's been a very long time." Milo said.

"Please come in and call me Heinrick please. Sit down, may I pour you a drink?" the commander asked.

"Yes thank you."

"So how are you finding life in the fleet?" the commander asked as he poured two generous glasses of whiskey.

"Slowly coming to grips with it. I'm luckier than most my son was travelling with me when the attack happened."

"How is Matthew?"

"Getting to grips with things a lot quicker than his old man. Have you heard if your daughters are in the fleet?"

"The ships registers are still being checked, I came to grips with them being dead weeks ago. I didn't want to hold out hope and then have it dashed, it would have been harder." The Commander handed Milo a glass and sat down on the large sofa next to him.

"So Milo what can I do for you?"

"I'm sure this won't come as a surprise but the people in the fleet have been asking me about putting together a civilian government. There are a lot of former politicians and there is talk about holding an election."

"I expected this would happen." The commander said.

"Don't get me wrong this is nothing negative towards you, the work you and your men and women do every day to keep us alive is amazing, but we don't think you should have to run all the day to day runnings of the fleet."

"What about military decisions?"

"As far as I'm concerned they will remain with you."

"If I'm honest the thought of endless meetings about food distribution and housing wasn't very appealing."

"So you'll back the elections?"

"Of course."

"Excellent, thank you old friend."

"I take it you'll be running, is there anyone else who has mentioned running?"

"The only other person who has mentioned running for it is the former secretary of defence Edgar Vance."

"Now there's a name I was hoping never to have to hear again."

"I know he does have a rather fearsome reputation."

"It's not his reputation that would worry me, it's his attitude towards the military."

"Anyway things are at a very early stage at the moment but now that we have your backing we can start to progress."

"Anything I can do to help."

"I understand we're leaving this system after the SAR missions you have running this afternoon."

"Yes it's about time we move on. We have all the supplies we're going to get, I'm sending the men to have one last look for survivors."

"Well give your men my best."

Bojay walked into the pilots briefing room. He had been in charge of all the missions to the colonies. This time even the CAG and squadron XO were going to be piloting Raptors today. Sideswipe had left him in charge.

"Good morning boys and girls. As you all know this is the last of our SAR missions. This is our last chance to find any survivors so we have to make it count. You all already know where you're going. The CAG and Blindside have stepped in to replace Bounty and Redneck as they've been under the weather so they'll be leading the mission to Picon. Guys all we need to do is pull it out of the bag once more and we don't have to do this again. By this time tomorrow we'll be in some new uncharted area of space. Watch your backs and keep and eye on each other, I want to see all of your sorry faces again this afternoon. Keep your wits about you and good hunting."

Bojay smiled at the pilots as they left and had the sick feeling that he wouldn't see them some of them again. Hawkeye came over to him.

"You okay boss?" she said.

He put his arm around her and smiled.

"Sure am, lets go save some people."


	10. Recollection

The Starburst was the largest luxury liner in Orion's fleet. It catered for everything a person could want. Climate domes which spanned polar to desert to rain forest amongst others. 5 star luxury accommodation, casinos, spas, nightclubs and the finest in wine bars and restaurants. Before the fall it had been one of five ships which only the very rich and famous could possibly afford to vacation aboard.

One of the ten luxury conference rooms was full of press and members of the public. All waiting for what would be the first of many chances for them to speak to the people running the fleet. A door to the stage opened and out walked Commander Johannsen, presidential candidates Milo Vents and Edgar Vance and the woman who would be chairing this afternoon's press conference Natasha Cobb.

She walked to the podium and was flanked either side by the men who had come on with her.

"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. For those of you who don't know my name is Natasha Cobb and I have been assigned the position of fleet liaison leading up to the presidential elections. We have brought you all here today to tell you about what is going to be happening over the next three months. It has been decided that for the safety and the ongoing harmony of the fleet Commander Johannsen the commanding officer of the Battlestar Orion will declare martial law. There is no reason for anyone to panic at the though of this. Nothing will change in the day-to-day running and your day-to-day living. As soon as a president has been elected the running of our fleet will be handed over. With immediate effect we are imposing a new identification system. Every man, woman and child will be issued with their own ID card. This will be used for travelling between ships, it will be used as a kind of passport. It is also to help with keeping track of how many survivors we have, where they are from and what they did before the war. These cards are mandatory and it will be the responsibility of each ship captain to make sure everyone who lives on his or her ship has one. As I am sure you are all aware running the day to day goings on of the fleet, keeping on top of the security issues that we have and are sorting out every day and commanding a ship such as the Orion Commander Johannsen has, in agreement with our two presidential candidates and the fleet's Captains has designated myself and one of his senior officers, Lieutenant Georgia Taylor as the people you will report any reports, issues or questions too and we will do our best to help you in any and all ways possible.

As you all know by now we are going to be holding Presidential elections in three months time. So far Milo Vents who before the attacks was the mayor of Caprica City and Edgar Vance who is the former secretary of defence are so far the only candidates. Anyone else in the fleet that would like to be seriously considered for this illustrious position has a further two weeks to put his or her candidacy forward. After that two weeks the candidates will begin their campaigning and we will be having live debates where questions will be asked so you can get to know the people who want to be your president. Once a president has been sworn into office he or she will then begin to put their cabinet together much as they would have back on the colonies. We want to create a democracy, which will benefit the people and the safe running of our fleet.

We would like to also address all the speculation as to where we are going now that we have left our colonies behind. Commander Johannsen took the initiative to leave our devastated homes behind and find a new world that we can settle on and begin to build new lives. This is a task that could potentially take a long time. There are very few planets out in open space that have all the conditions that we need in order to survive. The science vessel Columbus along with members of Orion's crew is putting together a list of specifications that we need. Just because we find a planet doesn't mean that you should all expect to settle there. There will be long and arduace testing procedures that need to be met.

The security of the fleet as well as it's protection will always be left in the more than capable hands of Commander Johannsen. I would like to take this opportunity to thanks the men and women who fight to keep us safe every day and say on behalf of the people of our fleet thank you."

Everyone in the room began to clap as she spoke, "Without you gods only know where we would all be now. Over the coming days there will be more of these conferences so that any questions, queries and grievances can be aired. For now I would like to say thank you all for coming and do any of you have any questions?"

Nearly every member of the press core put his or her hand up.

Skeeter was trying to get to grips with his new position. He had been appointed as a deck hand on Orion. Currently he was working in Orion's Viper construction factory. He had thought having a history as a mechanic he would be well suited to constructing fighters, he was beginning to think he had over estimated his abilities. As he tried to assemble yet another part of an undercarriage his hand slipped and he sliced his palm open on the tool he was using.

"Frak." He said to himself as he reached over and wrapped a rag around his palm, "Chief." He shouted.

Chief of the Deck Arthur James walked over to him.

"You okay Skeeter?" he asked.

"I'm gonna have to head down to sick bay."

"Is everything okay?"

"I've just put a screw driver through my hand." Skeeter replied holding up his hand covered by the already blood soaked rag.

"Frak me, go go." Arthur said.

On the walk to sickbay a lot went through Skeeter's mind. Back on Sagitarron and Caprica he had no idea what he would do when he joined the fleet. Now he was here he had thought getting a job on the deck would have given him more time with Archangel, that couldn't have been further from the truth. Since he had been cleared for duty Skeeter had barely seen his friend. He had also been re-assessing his mechanical knowledge. Give him a car, jeep or motorbike and he could take it apart and rebuild it from the ground up, his knowledge was not however transferring over to building Vipers and Raptors.

As he walked into the sickbay he saw the doctor sitting at her desk.

"Good afternoon Skeeter, everything okay?" Dr Hammond asked.

"Erm not really, I've just had an incident with a screw driver." He said pointing to his hand.

The doctor sat him down and began to take a look at the wound.

"Ouch." She said, "This must hurt."

"Well it hardly tickles." He replied with a laugh.

"Well you came to the right place, I'll give you some painkillers and get you cleaned up."

"Thank you."

"So how are you finding life aboard Orion?"

"Want me to tell you the truth or want me to make something up?" Skeeter replied.

"The truth." Hammond replied as she began to clean up his hand.

"I hate it here."

"Is it that bad?"

"I thought as I'd been a mechanic I would be able to just get on with the job. Gods know what the Chief thinks of me. I have to ask for help all the time. What goes where etcetera. I thought taking this post I'd see Archangel and Vannick all the time, I've barely seen them at all over the last month. I really don't think I'm cut out for this."

"Any ideas on what you're going to do?"

"Doctor/patient confidentiality?" Skeeter asked.

"Always." She replied.

"I'm thinking of asking the Commander to let me go. I'm not cut out for this. I've been talking to Michaels one of the other survivors I was with and he says I can go move into his place for a while."

"Is he the guy living in the polar dome?"

"That's the one."

"Can I give you a heads up?"

"Sure."

"If you're sure you want to do this, talk to the Chief first. Don't go straight to the commander."

"You see that's another reason, I can't get my head around the military. When do I salute, when or who do I say sir and ma'am too."

"Think about it before you do, you're not going to be doing any work for a while anyway, this is going to need stitches."

While the conference had gone well the commander couldn't wait to get back to Orion.

"Commander." A voice said from behind him. He turned and saw a woman walk over to him.

"May I have a moment of your time?" she asked.

"If you can talk and walk." He replied.

"Thank you sir. My name is D'Anna Biers I'm a member of the press core."

"Yes I believe you're the one who has been sending interview request."

"That's correct sir. I've wanted to interview Major Hunter about his experiences on Sagittaron and Caprica. I've heard from people that he's quite the hero."

"And you expect what sort of answer from me? I cannot speak for the Major."

"No sir but you can put in a good word."

"And why would I do that."

"I'm going to be blunt, there is a large part of the fleet who distrust the military, and even with everything you've done for us. We all know what the Pegasus did to those people and honestly there are people out there who are scared you could turn round and do the same thing to us. I want to interview the Major because I think if they can see the type of man he is and with the position he holds so highly aboard your ship then it would go a long way to quashing those fears."

"Irritatingly Miss Biers you have a point. I'll speak to Major Hunter, that's all, I won't promise anything at all."

"That's all I ask."

Archangel laid face first into the cockpit of his Viper. He had spent the last week trying to tweak the controls of the ship so it was more sensitive to control like his bird on Atlantia had been. The chief had thought he was nuts when he told him what he wanted to do claiming no one could fly it after he had done that but he knew to get the best out of it, these things needed to be done.

"Major." He heard the commander call from the hanger deck. With great care he managed to manoeuvre himself back around.

"Yes sir."

"May I have a word with you?"

"Of course sir."

Archangel walked down the ladder to his C/O.

"While I was on the Starburst I was approached by a journalist called D'Anna Biers."

"Sorry sir I hoped she would have got the message by now."

"She said that she wants to write a piece on you to help put the military in a more positive light throughout the fleet, a hero piece."

"I'm no hero and what's wrong with the military?"

"Word on what Pegasus did is still going round the fleet, people are worried that one day we could do something similar. It might do some good to let her interview you."

"Is this an order?"

"No just a suggestion."

"Fine can you get someone to arrange a time and a place?" Archangel asked.

"Of course."

"Thank you."

Skeeter walked down the hanger deck. As always it was bustling with life. He walked up to the Chief who was checking through spare parts.

"Chief can I have a word?" Skeeter asked.

"Sure. How's the hand?"

"Twelve stitches but that's not what I wanted to talk to you about. I know I haven't been here long but I really don't think this job is for me. I want to request to be relieved of duty."

"You sure about that?" the Chief replied.

"Come on you of all people know that I'm not up to the challenge, I just can't get my head around this."

"Well I won't say we wont miss you round here. I know that you've been having your problems but you're sense of humour certainly lightens the mood down here."

Skeeter jumped as condition one began to sound.

"All hands set condition one, Cylon contact, launch Vipers." Colonel Garrett said over the con.

Everyone went about their business as quickly as they could. Pilots began to appear and get into their Vipers and Raptors.

"Okay everyone lets get these birds into the tubes." The Chief yelled.

Skeeter saw Archangel and Bojay running towards their birds. Skeeter quickly ran over to them.

"Good luck out there." Skeeter shouted as Archangel got into his Viper and put his helmet on.

He gave his friend the thumbs up.

Minutes later all the vipers and raptors were away. The Chief put the pilots chatter over the speakers.

"Okay kids we've got sixty inbound. Lets mop em up. Open racks and engage." Archangel said.

Skeeter stood in silence and listened as he heard his friends engage the enemy. Gunfire and shouting voices of the pilots echoed along the huge hanger bay. Skeeter was scared for his friend. He looked at the other members of the deck gang and they all looked the same. A blank expression as they listened to their friends fight for their lives.

"Frak we lost T Bone." Bojay said over the CON, "Hold it together guys. Raptor's 5 thru 10 form missile picket by Orion and engage."

Skeeter needed a cigarette but knew he couldn't smoke on the hanger deck, this was one of the most stressful moments of his life.

"The fleet is away, all Vipers and Raptors return to the barn and prepare to jump the ship." Garrett said over the CON.

"Okay guys lets get ready for the birds return."

Nearly ten minutes later Skeeter found himself walking the many halls of Orion with a cigarette in his mouth. He had to get away from here. At least when they were on Sagittaron and Caprica when they were fighting Cylons he was out there with his friends fighting side by side, now he just found himself feeling more useless as the days passed. Before he knew it he found himself in the memorial corridor lined with photographs of the crews loved ones. He stopped at the pictures Archangel had added and stood looking at his friends Danny and Grace.

"Need some company?"

Skeeter turned his head and saw Vannick standing next to him.

"How are you sergeant?"

"Good, getting used to life here. You?"

"Leaving."

"Why?" Vannick asked.

"Same reasons I've been telling you for the past couple of weeks. I'm heading over to the Starburst as soon as the Chief gets it all approved."

"We're gonna miss you over here buddy. You told Archangel yet?"

Skeeter shook his head, "No I barely have enough time to say hello to him these days. The life of a CAG and all that."

"Well make sure you do before you go anywhere, you're his best friend after all."

Skeeter just nodded his head, "You got time for a drink?"

"Sure my shift just ended."

As Archangel checked over his bird after the fight the Chief came over to him.

"Major there's a call for you from CIC." He pointed over to the phone.

"Thanks Chief."

Archangel walked over and picked the phone up, "Hello." He said.

"Archangel it's Colonel Garrett, there is a journalist here to talk to you in meeting room four."

He could tell there was a smile on her face and she was trying not to laugh.

"Can I make her wait a while?" he replied.

"She's already been waiting an hour for you." Garrett replied.

"On my way." He replied before putting the phone down, "Chief can you finish up my checks I've been called away."

The Chief gave him the thumbs up.

D'Anna Biers sat by herself in the large meeting room where she had been for the last hour. She had expected they would make her wait but she was getting ready to give up when the door opened and Archangel walked in. This was the first time she had seen him. She had heard all sorts of stories about him from humans and other Cylons. He was as imposing as she had imagined him to be. The young man, still in his flight suit held out his hand, which she took and shook.

"Major Mark Hunter, pleased to meet you." He said as he sat down.

"D'Anna Biers fleet new service, thank you for agreeing to meet with me."

"If the commander hadn't thought it would be a good idea trust me I wouldn't have." He replied.

"Well thank you anyway and I will make this as painless as possible. I'll be recording our conversation. Before the attack I would have been filming you but you use what you have." She replied with a smile.

"That you do."

"Shall we get straight into it?"

"By all means." Archangel said.

"Tell me about your life before the attack."

"I was the CAG of the Battlestar Atlantia, a position I had worked my whole career to get."

"I hear you are the youngest CAG in the history of the colonial fleet."

"That's correct."

"What made you want to become a pilot?"

"A friend and I just decided one day. We had no plans for the future and to be honest at the time we thought it would piss off our parents. When we both got in we found out we loved it."

"Tell me about the day of the attack?"

Archangel let out a sigh, it was as fresh in his memory as if it had been yesterday, "I was on Sagittaron, I'd gone home for extended shore leave the day before the attack. I'd met up with some buddies I hadn't seen in a while and we got very drunk." He had a smile on his face while he remembered that part, "The next day we didn't see any of the morning, and I woke up with the hangover from hell. When I looked out of the window I saw nuclear clouds in the horizon, lots of them and suddenly the hangover was gone. My best friends Skeeter and Danny had stayed with me. We went into the town and looked for survivors but we couldn't find anyone, we found bodies but no one alive. Our friend who had taken one look at the nuclear clouds and taken his own life and then the man who owned the local market where we had shopped since we were kids. We bought our comics from him and he always used to give us sweets, someone had beaten him to death. Of all the things I saw that will stay with me the longest. He was the most generous kind man anyone could want to meet, he would have given the shirt off his back to someone he'd never met if it meant it would help them. I wish I'd got there in time."

"What would you have done?"

"Whatever it took to keep that man alive. Anyway when we got back to my house that's where we found Grace. She had been hiking in the mountains when it happened and she had found my house when she was trying to get into the town."

"She was one of the casualties?"

Archangel nodded his head, "Yeah, she was killed by Cylons a couple of weeks after Danny was."

"What type of relationship did you have with her?"

"Erm, what? Excuse me?"

"I had just heard that you both got on well."

"It took the end of the world for me to find the woman I loved." He said with sadness in his voice, "The Cylons killed her just as we had found a Raptor to get off the planet and get to Caprica."

"Can I ask why you went to Caprica and didn't just go off into space?"

"Many reasons. I knew that our best chance of being rescued was to get to the capital. Going out into space would have been suicide."

"Did you know the fleet was gone then?"

"No but I had guessed it was. If they had survived the Cylons wouldn't have moved in and I had to do everything possible to keep the others alive."

"You had found others by then?"

"We found more people on Sagittaron. Vannick who is a marine, Bria another pilot and a group of civilians."

"Can I ask at any point did you think of just giving in?"

Archangel shook his head, "Oh yeah, when Grace died. If Brother Ramok hadn't found me when I did I was about to put a round through my head."

D'Anna was actually shocked, "Really?"

"Yes. It was when Grace died that it hit me, the emotion of everything that had happened. My parents and brother were dead, my friends and squadron were dead, and one of my best friends was dead. One thing I don't think the civilians in this fleet don't seem to realise is that we're fighting to protect them everyday and every single one of us has lost all the same things they have."

"Was it just Cylons you had to contend with on the colonies?"

"I wish it had been. Some of the people we met were worse than the Cylons. I figured it out that the Cylons hate us, I mean totally hate us with everything they are, with every fibre of their being. But our own people, our own flesh and blood, they made the choice to turn on their own, to kill, to steal. If there is one thing that the Cylons do that we could learn is that they are united against their common foe."

"It almost sounds like you sympathise with them?"

"No that's not it. While I've been in the military I've witnessed the kinds of brutality and cruelty that most people will never have to witness and the worst of it was from humans. At least you know where you are with a Cylon, it wants to kill you it will do everything in it's power to either put a bullet between your eyes or rip you apart limb from limb. Some of the humans I've met they smile, they welcome, they offer you somewhere safe to stay, somewhere to rest your head for the night and then when you're at your weakest they strike you. Some of the hardest battles we fought on the colonies were between us and other humans."

"You've killed a person before?"

"Yes, I've killed a lot and every single one of them wanted to kill me first. If the I wasn't going to let the Cylons kill me I wasn't going to let a human."

"So what made you change your mind? One minute you we're about to kill yourself, the next you were fighting again for your survival."

"I realised that I was being selfish. These people looked to me to keep them alive and I made a promise to myself on that first day that I was going to keep them alive, the more the group grew the more the feeling grew. It's the same as it is now, just on a larger scale. The people of the fleet need me, need this ship and need this crew, it's exactly the same."

"Did you loose anyone when they attacked today?"

"Yes we did Lieutenant Kyle Turner but we called him T-Bone. He was a good man, from Picon originally."

"May I ask do you know all the names of your pilots?"

"Yes I do, every single one, I owe them that much."

"Is it easier to be a CAG again?"

"Easier than what?"

"Being on the colonies."

"Very much so. On the colonies we were running for our lives every single day. Some days we would get lucky and they would either leave us alone or they wouldn't find us. Other days we were fighting them off with everything we had. At least now I have a little more firepower behind me and a place to lay my head that isn't either in a cave or a forest. I'm by no means a religious man but Orion is our saviour. The first time I saw her was one of the best moments of my life, I'd been shot in the chest and the leg but all I could think was they're safe."

"What do you think of the unease in the fleet because of what Pegasus did?"

"I can't say I'm surprised they're uneasy. I can't imagine what they went through, being striped of everything that could possibly keep them alive. What the crew of the Pegasus did was unforgivable."

"What would you say to them to try and ease the unrest?"

"I know these people are untrusting of us but they need to know that Orion and the people who serve aboard her are only concerned with their safety and survival. We risk our lives every day to keep them alive, T-Bone risked his life and died in the process. I would ask that they try to trust us because anything else is a slap in the face to his memory and every other member of this crew and my squadron that have died so far. We will die for you all we ask is you trust us."

"Thank you Major I'm going to leave it there." She was genuinely shocked by her short time with Archangel, unknown to her, like Grace before her she was totally taken in by him.

"Is that enough?"

"Yes it is and I can't thank you enough for talking to me. I just want you to know that I am going to give you the hero piece you deserve."

"Just do one thing for me?"

"Anything."

"Please don't call me a hero, I don't do any of this for a pat on the back or a medal on my chest. I do it because it's the right thing to do."

"Of course. Oh could you do one last thing for me?"

"Sure."

"Say hi to Bojay, tell him I'm thinking of him."

Archangel let out a little laugh, "No problem ma'am."

Doctor Hammond sat looking at a brain scan. It had been exactly as she had feared and now she had to share the worst news possible. She turned to Hawkeye who was sitting opposite her at her desk.

"It's bad isn't it?" Hawkeye asked.

"Jenna I don't know how to tell you this."

Tears began to fall down Hawkeye's face, "The headaches it's what we feared isn't it?"

Hammond nodded her head, "You have a brain tumour."

"Is there anything at all you can do?"

"I've discussed it with the specialists on the Medstar and I'm afraid there isn't."

"How long do I have?"

"I would think about eight months."

Hawkeye began to cry properly, "How bad will it get?"

"Jenna we can give you medication, there are procedures we can do to give you as much time as possible."

"Will it keep me in sickbay?"

"We would transfer you to the Medstar and yes, you would be there for most of your time."

Hawkeye wiped the tears from her eyes, "No." She took a deep breath, "I'm going to go and live whatever life I have left till I can't."

"Whatever you choose I'll back you completely. Would you like me to tell the Commander for you?"

"No I'll tell him myself."

Skeeter walked into the pilot's mess and was greeted as always by pilots who were pleased to see him. He saw Archangel, Bojay and Bria all sat together.

"Hey look who it is." Bojay said handing Skeeter a shot, "You're just in time. All you guys shut the frak up. We're all here today to pay our respects to Lieutenant Kyle Turner or T-Bone to you and me. He was one hell of a viper jock, one hell of a man and we will all miss him. May the gods take his soul and take it into the afterlife. So all you mother frakers raise your glasses, to T-Bone."

"T-Bone." Everyone shouted before downing his or her drink.

Bojay took a knife out of his pocket and walked over to the wall where all the other names of those lost had been carved and began to put his name on it.

"How you doing?" Bria asked.

"Better than I have been. Archangel can I have a quick chat?" Skeeter asked.

"Sure." He replied downing another shot before following him out of the mess, "Are you okay?"

"I'm leaving Orion."

"What? Why?"

"I can't do my job here. I'm a car mechanic, not a viper mechanic. I nearly put a screwdriver through my hand earlier, twelve stitches because I can't do my job properly."

"But where are you going to go?"

"Michaels said I can stay with him for a while."

"But I'll hardly ever get to see you man."

"We never see each other now and we're on the same ship. I know that you're a busy man and I understand that, I just don't fit in here. I'm not happy."

"Seems like I'm not going to be able to change your mind."

"No you're not. This is your war, mine ended when we left Caprica."

"You'll stay in contact with me?"

"Try to fraking stop me. Anyway Bojay was telling me the pilots rotation will give you a few days off at a time, you'll be able to come to the Starburst."

"I will I promise." The two men hugged, "You coming back in for more drinks?"

"Why the frak not."

The conferences on the Starburst had been going well. Commander Johannsen sat in a lounge with the two presidential candidates and Natasha.

"There is something that I have decided it is time to tell you. I haven't known this for long. The humans have the ability to mimic humans."

"What?" Edgar asked.

"Major Hunter and the other survivors we rescued have come into contact with at least three male Cylons. This is why we had suggested the ID cards. Once we have copies of them the Major will begin to look through them to see if he recognises any of them."

"We have to inform the public." Edgar said.

"I'm not sure that's the wisest cause of action." Milo said, "At the moment only a handful of people have seen any of them, we have no way at present to show their faces. All it would succeed in doing is causing widespread panic and people accusing each other."

"I have to agree with Mr Vents." Natasha said, "Until we know for sure that we have a Cylon we should keep it on a need to know."

"What if any of the survivors open their mouths and spurt it out before we have a chance to tell anyone?" Edgar said.

"They have all been asked not too." Johannsen said.

"Oh sorry they've been asked not too. They're civilians, they don't follow orders!" Edgar said.

"They are the survivors who were with Archangel, he himself was the one who asked them to keep it to themselves. They are all fiercely loyal to him, they've also been told that if they do and it causes panic they will end up in Orion's brig." Johannsen said.

"Archangel, now there's a name I'm getting sick of hearing." Edgar said.

"Excuse me?" Johannsen said starting to get annoyed.

"Gentlemen we at the moment are the people at the top, we have to at least act like we're getting on. We vote and the majority rules." Milo said.

"Agreed." Natasha said.

"Well I vote that we tell them." Edgar said.

"I vote we keep it to ourselves." Natasha said.

"Me too." Johannsen replied.

"As do I. Majority rule so for now, we keep it to ourselves." Milo said.

"Well don't all come crying to me when this comes back and bites us in the ass."

Edgar said getting up and leaving the room, slamming the door behind him.

"Gods help us all if he's elected." Johannsen said.

"I know I shouldn't show my feelings on this but I'm sure once the public get a glimpse of his winning charm then the right person will be elected."

Edgar Vance walked into his luxury sweet and threw his tie across the room before pouring himself a drink.

"Stressful day Mr Vance?" a male voice said from once of his chairs.

Vance looked into the darkness saw the shadow of the man and the light from the end of his cigar.

"I didn't expect to see you so soon and yes it's been very stressful."

"Well you know better than anyone Mr Vance I can't just show my face anywhere."

"Of course."

"So do you have any information for us?"

"Oh do I. It turns out the Cylons have the ability to appear human now."

"Now that is interesting."

"It's been decided that for now at least it will be kept secret from the public."

"That doesn't surprise me." The man replied.

"So can I ask how are you and the rest of the twelve going to ensure I win this gods dam election?"

"Just smile and say what needs to be said, we will do the rest."

Edgar downed the rest of his drink, "Thank you."

"You're very welcome."

"Mr Caprica, please give my thanks to the others."

"I will and don't worry Mr Vance as soon as you're in office the New Colonial Order will come out from the shadows and we will lead this fleet to salvation."

"So say we all." Edgar replied.

Hawkeye took a deep breath before she entered the commander's quarters. Inside waiting for her was the commander, Colonel Garrett, Archangel and Bojay.

"Lieutenant please sit down, it sounded serious when you asked for the meeting." Johannsen said.

"It is." She said as she sat down. "I've been getting these really bad headaches recently. I've always had them so I never really thought anything about them. I went to see Doc Hammond and it turns out I have a brain tumour."

"Oh my gods." Johannsen said. Everyone looked utterly shocked.

"What can they do?" Bojay asked.

"Nothing. It's bad and I only have eight months to live."

"There has to be something, anything they can do." Bojay said.

"Bojay there isn't. Commander I would like to be relieved of my duties so that I can go out into the fleet and live whatever life I have left."

"Of course." Johannsen said looking utterly shell shocked, "May I ask how long you have?"

"Eight months." She replied.

Seeing Garrett and Bojay begin to cry set her off.

"I just want you to know that I'm okay. I'm going to enjoy every last minute I have."

Bojay hugged her.

"I just can't believe it." He said.

"Anything at all we can do, anything you need I will make sure it is available to you." Johannsen said.

"All I want is to slip away under the radar. I'm going to go to the Starburst, get a tan, swim a bit, come to terms with what is happening to me."

"Lieutenant Jenna Riley I hereby release you of your duties and discharge you from the military with full honours." The Commander stood up and saluted, Hawkeye did the same as did the others.

"It has been my greatest honour to serve with you and this ship will miss you."

Michaels opened the door of his cabin and smiled as he saw Skeeter standing in front of him.

"Hello old friend, come in come in." Michaels said.

Skeeter shook his friends hand as he walked inside.

"Thanks for putting me up." Skeeter said.

"Not at all, you're welcome here for as long as you want. Let me show you your room." Michaels took him through to the back of the cabin to the spare room. After a few more pleasantries Michaels left Skeeter to unpack. Skeeter looked around with a smile on his face. He opened his bag and took out his clothes, underneath them were bundles and bundles of cubits. He took a large bundle out and smelled them.

"Time to enjoy life." He said to himself.

D'Anna sat and waited. A 1 sat over from her and smiled as he finished reading her article on Archangel.

"Excellent. This will help to bring calm to the fleet." 1 said.

"Can I ask why you want that?"

"Because they have no idea what is coming. The chaos, which will come from the calm, will be enough to rip this fleet apart. Orion, Archangel none of them will be enough to stop it."

"Anything I can do to help."

"I'm glad you say that 3 because there is one more mission I want you to do."

"Whatever it takes." She replied.

"I need you to kill him. You can get close now. Once you've done it they will send you back to our brothers and sisters. Make it public, I want as many people to see this as possible. A great spectacle that everyone will remember. With him gone Orion will fall apart from the inside out."

"By your command."


	11. Political Murder

Bojay and Bria's Raptor jumped into a system ahead of the fleet.

"Jump complete." Bria said.

"Holy frak look at all this." Bojay said.

Bria came up to the front of the Raptor. As far as the eye could see there was debris from a battle.

"Look at that, isn't it a nose from a Viper Mk 2?" Bria said.

"Sure looks like it to me. I haven't seen one of those outside a museum." Bojay replied.

"Could this be debris from the first war?"

"Nope there's wreckage over there from one of the new raiders."

"Looks like we're not the only survivors after all." Bria said.

Bojay moved the Raptor through the wreckage.

"Oh man, there are bodies here, humans." Bojay said.

"How many?" Bria asked.

"Two that I can see." Bojay replied, "You up for a little space walk?"

"Sure thing." She replied.

"Any word from Bojay?" Johannsen asked as he walked onto the CIC.

"No sir but in this case no news is good news." Garrett replied.

"Give the order to jump the fleet." The commander said.

"Aye sir." Garrett picked up her handset, "All ships this is Orion XO prepare to jump to the next co-ordinates on our mark." She put her handset down, "Ensign Turner prepare to jump,"

Ensign Stewart Turner who was standing in for Lieutenant Taylor took over.

"All ships this is Orion jumping in 10..9..8..7..6..5..4..3..2..1..jump."

The entire fleet jumped.

As Bria was getting the last of the bodies back onto the Raptor the fleet began to jump in around them.

"Close the hatch we're good." She said. She looked at the emblem on the dead pilots flight suit, "My gods they were from Galactica?" she said.

"Galactica? I though they turned that old bucket into a museum?" Bojay replied.

"Do you read anything other than dirty magazines? She was being decommissioned the day of the attack, they must have gotten away." She said.

"Raptor one this is Orion please respond." Garrett said over the CON.

"Orion this is Typhoon we've found wreckage of a battle."

"This is Orion actual, a battle between who?" the Commander asked.

"It would appear to be the Cylons and Galactica." Bria replied.

"Are you sure it was Galactica?" the Commander asked.

"Yes sir, we recovered the bodies of two pilots and their flight patch says Galactica. There is a lot of wreckage from Viper Mk2s out here as well as raiders."

"Does it look like anything can be salvaged?" Johanssen asked.

"No sir it's bits and pieces as well as torn wreckage. We've looked for more bodies but can't find any at the moment." Bria replied.

"Very well come back home."

Archangel and Vannick had been called to the commander's quarters. Neither of them had any idea why he wanted to see them.

"Any ideas at all what this is about?" Vannick asked.

"Not a clue." Archangel replied.

As they reached his door the marine guards let them straight in.

"Gentlemen thank you for coming so quickly, please sit."

Both men sat down still none the wiser as to what was happening.

"Neither of you have done anything wrong. I have a new job for you both."

"New job?" Archangel asked.

"Yes as you know the presidential debates are about to begin. Mr Vance and Mr Vents campaign managers have asked if we can provide personal security for them. I would like you two be that security."

"Seriously?" Archangel asked.

"Very." Johannsen replied, "Sergeant Vannick I would like you to be Mr Vents person body guard and Major you to be Mr Vance's."

Archangel groaned, "Is he really going to want me there?"

"We both know his views on the military but they've asked for two people who I trust."

"Edgar Vance," he said with a sigh, "And don't worry I'll hold my temper."

"I know I don't need to tell you both but there will be the eyes of the fleet watching you."

Colonel Garrett stood by Bojay's raptor on the hanger deck and smiled as she saw Archangel and Vannick approach both wearing suits with a shirt and tie. She had never seen Archangel dressed in anything other than his military clothes.

Bojay wolf whistled as he saw them both approaching.

"Well look at you two, don't we look smart!" he said with a smile.

"Shut the frak up Bojay." Archangel said.

"Oh so touchy." He replied, "You guys ready to head off?"

"We are." Garrett replied, "You both look lovely." She said to the two men.

"I feel like a door to door salesman." Archangel said.

Garrett let out a little laugh, "I'm sorry."

"You know I am armed!" he said.

"I'm sorry I'll play nice." She said as they all got onto the raptor.

"Ladies and gentlemen welcome aboard raptor one, today's destination is the Starburst." Bojay said from the front.

"Looking very handsome gentlemen." Bria said.

"Thanks, I like this look but the dear Major here isn't feeling it."

"I swear I'll shoot the next person who speaks." Archangel said.

Everyone let out a laugh.

Minutes later the raptor was flying through the fleet towards the Starburst.

"So Colonel what are you going to the Starburst for?" Vannick asked.

"They want a representative from the Orion there for the press to talk to and I pulled the short straw, you know what they say, shit rolls down hill." Garrett replied.

"I find it all interesting." Bria said, "I've never been this close to an election before and certainly not the start up of a new government from scratch, it's fascinating."

"Yeah Bria is definitely the intellectual of the squadron." Bojay said from the pilot's chair.

"You guys really don't find it interesting?" Bria asked.

"It'll certainly be interesting if Vance wins. I really don't think he and the commander will ever see anything eye to eye." Archangel said.

"If he wins I think I will suggest we take the Orion and go on alone." Garrett said.

They all let out a laugh.

"Starburst this is Raptor one requesting permission to approach the hanger bay." Bojay said as they neared the giant luxury liner.

"Raptor one this is Starburst, permission granted, the hanger bay is yours." Came the reply.

"Ladies and gentlemen next stop Starburst." Bojay said.

"Great." Archangel said under his breath.

Bojay flew the raptor into the hanger bay and touched down.

"Powering down." Bojay said as he brought the bird to a complete standstill.

Bria opened the side door on the raptor and Natasha Cobb who was smiling widely as usual met them.

"Colonel, Major, Sergeant welcome aboard the Starburst." She said as they all got out. Archangel turned to see Bojay waving with a huge smile across his face.

"We have quarters for you all during your stay with us. Anything you need just ask and I will make sure you get it."

Archangel took a deep breath before knocking on the door in front of him. Moments later it was opened by Edgar Vance's assistant James Porter.

"Ah Major Hunter please come in come in." the young man vigorously shook Archangel's hand, "Mr Vance is through here."

They walked through the large suite to the living room area where Edgar Vance and several other people sat talking.

"Mr Vance this is Major Hunter." James said.

"Pleased to meet you sir." Archangel said holding out his hand.

Vance didn't even look up from the paper work he was reading through, "I'm sure you are. I must tell you this was not my idea. You are here because your commander, Miss Cobb and several others think it's better to have you here. If you are to follow me around I don't want to know you are here, I don't want to hear you at all. Do I make myself clear."

"Crystal." Archangel replied.

"I'm sure I don't need to tell you that anything at all that you here in this room or that leaves my mouth anywhere else is privileged information and you are never to repeat it anywhere."

"Of course."

"I have no public appearances today so I do not require you to be here. Take the rest of the day off and be here in the morning at 09.00." Vance said, his gaze still on his paperwork.

"Yes sir." Archangel turned and walked out of the room.

"Gods damn viper jocks." Vance said to himself.

Vannick took a deep breath before being led through to Milo Vents. Milo walked over to him smiling and shook his hand.

"Sergeant it is very nice to meet you." Milo said.

"Thank you sir, you too."

"The commander tells me you're one of his best and most trusted."

"Thank you again sir." Vannick replied a little embarrassed.

"To be honest there isn't going to be much for you to do today but feel free to hang around, meet everyone and get a feel for the place." Milo said.

"Of course sir." Vannick had been put at ease. Milo was very welcoming and it seems what he had been told about him was true, a nice man who had time for everyone.

"I'm hoping at some point we will be able to trade some war stories over a bottle of whiskey."

"I will look forward to it. The commander told me you served during the first war."

"I did, as did he as I'm sure you know. The men and women of Orion make me proud every day."

The commander didn't quite know what to make of Mike. He was clearly very young and very cleaver. Archangel had already warned him that he had the people skills of a brick, but putting up with the things that came out of his mouth were worth it for what you would get in return. He was always coming up with new toys and weapons to help destroy Cylons.

"May I get you a drink?" Johannsen asked.

"No thank you commander." He replied.

Johannsen took his seat behind his large desk. The young genius had requested a meeting with him.

"So how can we help you?" the commander asked.

"It's more how can I help you." Mike replied, "When we were on Caprica I came up with an EMP grenade. Every since we got here I have been trying to take my designs to the next level." Mike reached down and picked up a large bag he had with him. He opened it and pulled out it's contents and put it on the commander's desk, "This commander is an EMP warhead that can be fixed onto any of your ship to ship missiles."

"Wow, that is very impressive." The commander said, "How much damage will it cause?"

"If this hits a Cylon base ship it will power down every electronic system the ship has so you can just sit back and destroy it without taking a single hit." Mike replied.

"I have to say this is going to be extremely useful." Johannsen said. "How many have you made?"

"One." Mike replied, "But if I can get the resources I can have a further twenty by the end of the month. The more materials and help I can have the more warheads I can make for you."

"Make me a list of the things you need and I will make sure you get them," the commander replied, "Do you want to make them on the Columbus where you are staying or do you want to be assigned to Orion?"

"It will probably be easier for me on Columbus, I've already been given a lab. I also in preparation for this meeting I already have a list of things that I will need." He said handing Johannsen a sheet of paper.

Archangel walked through one of the large bars on the Starburst with a beer in his hand. He saw Skeeter sat at a table and walked over and joined him.

"Hey buddy." Archangel said to his friend.

"Hey, wow look at you all suited and booted. What are you doing over here?"

Archangel sat at the table, "Personal security for Edgar Vance but apparently I'm not required today."

"I thought you hated that guy." Skeeter replied.

"Oh I do but the commander thought it would be a good idea to assign me to him. So how are you finding the Starburst?"

"I love it here. It's a little cold at Michaels' place but it's quiet and out of the way. I've just been enjoying myself. I'm actually entered into a pyramid competition this afternoon."

"Good for you, I'm glad you're getting on with things." Archangel replied.

"I have to go but I'll catch up with you later?" Skeeter replied.

"No problem I'm staying in suite 239, give me a call or just pop round." Archangel said.

"Will do."

As Skeeter walked away Colonel Garrett appeared.

"May I join you?" she asked.

"Of course." Archangel replied.

"Aren't you supposed to be watching Vance?" she asked.

"Yeah I'm not required until the morning. What about you?"

"I have two hours before I have an interview, I'm not looking forward to it."

"Is that Bojay?" Archangel said.

Garrett turned to see Bojay at the far side of the bar sitting down.

"Who is he with?" Archangel asked.

"That's the woman he rescued the first time he went to Caprica. This explains why he's over here so often." Garrett said.

"Good for him." Archangel replied.

They sat for a few moments in silence, drinking their drinks.

"Are you hungry?" Archangel asked.

"Actually I am." Garrett replied.

"There's a Tauron restaurant round here I wanted to try, fancy coming along?"

"Sure, I'm going to have to go to my quarters on the way if that's okay?"

"Of course, lets go." Archangel said.

Lieutenant Anthony "Wedge" Manning led the CAP on patrol of the fleet. Since Bojay was squadron XO the job of lead Viper pilot while Archangel was on Starburst had fallen to him. Lieutenant Joseph "Wildcard" Tobber, Lieutenant Hanna "Impulse" Harper and Lieutenant Maria "Splicer" Flanner flanked him in their vipers.

"So who are you guys voting for?" Impulse asked as they flew.

"No way it'll be Vance." Wildcard replied, "He gets in and there is no telling what will happen when he gets his hands on Orion."

"Boys and girls lets not talk about politics, my grandmother always used to tell me don't talk about politics, religion or money." Wedge replied.

"Well I've got no money to talk about." Splicer said with a laugh.

"And I couldn't give a frak about religion." Impulse said.

Dradis beeped in each viper.

"Okay cut the chatter," Wedge said, "Orion this is Wedge a base ship has just jumped in at the other side of the fleet. We are on our way to engage but we are four minutes away."

"Wedge this is Orion, copy that we are launching alert vipers." The reply came.

"Copy that Orion we are on our way to intercept." Wedge replied as they all turned their vipers towards the enemy, "Okay kids keep your eyes open and watch each other backs. Open racks and prepare to engage." Wedge said.

The ships of the fleet began to jump away as the four vipers sped throughout them. They watched in the distance as the Orion began to shoot a flak barrier and launch missiles at the base ship. They could see the other vipers launching while others engaged the raiders.

"At this rate we're gonna get there when it's over." Impulse said.

"There will always be another time." Wedge replied.

The ships they passed they looked like streaks in the canopy. These few minutes it was taking to cross the fleet seemed like an eternity. As the four vipers passed Orion they neared the fight.

"Okay guys lets do this." Wedge said as he split off with his wingman Impulse and went after a raider. He opened fire with short bursts. As the raider tried to turn to fire at Wedge he caught it head on and the rounds tore it in two.

"Good shooting Wedge." Impulse said.

"All vipers the fleet is away, come back and complete combat landings." Major Rae said over the con.

"Okay boys and girls get your asses back on Orion." Wedge ordered.

Wedge and the other birds all turned back towards Orion. This was the part Wedge hated, surviving the battle was great, getting home to the barn without getting shot down, that was the hard part. He had his throttle fire walled, as did all the other pilots. He saw a viper out of the corner of his eye hit by stray fire and explode. He wasn't sure who it was, they would morn him or her later on. As he turned his viper to the landing bay he felt relief as the sides of the ship enclosed him and gave him the shelter that open space did not provide.

"That was hard." Archangel said. They had had to wait in the Colonel's quarters while the ship was at condition one.

"I know what you mean, it's hard not being there when you know all your friends are directly in the line of fire."

"I'm sure Wedge will have led them all well." Archangel said.

Condition one stopped and silence followed.

"Shall we eat?" Garrett asked.

"Sure." Archangel replied.

They both stood up and clashed heads as they did.

"Oww." They both said at the same time.

"Are you okay?" Archangel asked.

Garrett nodded in reply, "You have a bruise already." She said putting her hands on Archangel's head so she could get a closer look. She smiled at him before they looked at each other. Garrett took a deep breath before pulling him closer and kissing him. She broke away and let go of his head.

"I'm sorry." She said.

"Don't be." Archangel replied kissing her.

Bojay and Bria stepped out of their raptor.

"Good job Wedge." Bojay said patting the young viper pilot on the back.

"Thanks captain but we lost slingshot." Wedge replied.

Slingshot had been one of the newest viper pilots on Orion. Everyone knew her as she destroyed four raiders in her first combat.

"Frak me." Bojay said, he turned to the other pilots who were on the deck, "Good work everyone, you all did good."

Archangel lay with his arm around Garrett in her bed.

"Now that was unexpected." She said with a smile.

"Unexpected but very enjoyable." Archangel replied.

Garrett laughed, "You know this is the most relaxed I've been since the attack." She said stretching out.

"This ship is very relaxing in general, that is when it's not all about politics!"

The phone next to the bed began to buzz. Garrett turned and picked it up.

"Hello. Colonel Garrett." She said, she paused listening, "Oh frak, I am so sorry, I will be there right away." She slammed the phone down and shot up out of bed.

"What's wrong?" Archangel asked sitting up.

"That interview I told you I had in two hours earlier on?" she asked.

Archangel nodded, "Yeah."

"Yeah well two hours passed over twenty minutes ago I'm late." She said grabbing her uniform and putting it on.

"Is that the time?" he asked picking his watch up off the floor, "Time certainly does fly when you're having fun." He said with a laugh.

"I'm going to be out most of the afternoon, how do you fancy having that meal and continuing this evening?" she asked.

"Sounds perfect. What time?" he asked.

"I'll meet you at that restaurant in four hours." She said fastening up her uniform. She leaned over the bed and kissed Archangel again before walking out. Archangel smiled to himself before putting his suit back on.

The following morning the Starburst's many video screens were showing interviews with the two presidential candidates as well as Colonel Garrett and many other people.

Archangel stood behind Vance as he and Milo listened to Natasha Cobb as she announced the people who had been chosen for the new Quorum of Twelve. Both men listened as they heard the names of the men and women they would have to work with if they were elected.

Archangel looked out and saw Colonel Garrett sitting in the front row amongst the media and other people listening in. She smiled up at him, he smiled back at her. He looked at Vance sitting smiling and nodding at everything being said. If only the people of the fleet could see what he was like or hear the things he thought of them. As Natasha finished speaking about the Quorum she introduced Milo and Vance, both men walked across the stage to their podiums, Archangel stood next to Vance and Vannick next to Milo.

"Ladies and gentlemen our two presidential candidates will now take your questions." She said.

All the press who had questions had all been given the order that their question would be taken.

Barney Smith, formerly of the Virgon Gazette stood up, "This is a question for both of you. What are your primary goals for the people of the fleet?"

Milo spoke first, "The continued survival of our species. We need to find a planet where we can live. While this may take a long time it has to be our overall goal. I would continue to build on the things we have already begun to put in place. The people of our fleet have been united in our sorrows and have been helping each other on a daily basis. This must be nurtured so our continued existence is that little bit easier."

Vance was all smiles as he began to speak, "While I agree with Mr Vents I think we need to find somewhere to live sooner rather than later. I would urge Orion to work harder to find somewhere for you. They want you to believe it will take a long time, I believe this is because the longer we are in space, the longer they have their grip on us."

"That is ridiculous," Milo interrupted, "The men and women of the Battlestar Orion are here for our protection and they risk their lives for us day after day. Searching for a new home, along with the help of science vessel Columbia is one of their top priorities in a long list of high priorities."

Andrea Morgan, a young journalist for the news fleet took the opportunity to ask her question, "Speaking of the military, what are your plans for them if you should take office?"

"That is quite simple," Vance said, "They must be closely monitored, they must be taken control of to make sure what happened to the people the Pegasus left for dead never happens to us."

"That is utter rubbish. Since the attack I have often spoken to Commander Johannsen, I can guarantee the people of this fleet that his only intension is to keep you alive. Trying to scare the people of the fleet as Mr Vance is trying to currently do is just another of his tactics. If you are scared, he can offer you his hand, his ear so that you will give him your vote. Do not be scared into voting for anyone. As I say again the men and women of Orion only have your safety in mind. I will let the military carry on as they have been, leading us away from danger and into salvation."

The Q & A carried on much in the same way. Archangel cringed at some of the things Vance said and hoped that the people saw in Milo Vents what he did, the man to help the Commander lead the fleet. As it all came to an end both candidates shook hands and smiled for the cameras before walking off stage. Vance stormed off in front saying nothing as his aides flapped around him. Archangel kept up pace with them. As they reached a cross road of corridors Archangel noticed a man appear in front of them, as he reached into his jacket Archangel moved in front of Vance and took the full brunt of the rotten tomato that had been meant for the other man. Archangel quickly overwhelmed the man who found himself face down on the ground with the muzzle of a gun pressed into the back of his head. Two marines appeared as Vance's aides screamed.

"Corporal take Mr Vance to his quarters, do not stop for anything and wait outside for my arrival." Archangel said to them.

"Yes sir." The corporal replied.

When they were out of sight Archangel picked the man up by his collar as two of the Starburst security guards appeared.

"You're fraking lucky I didn't shoot you when you did that." Archangel growled putting his gun away.

"Maybe I should have shot him, someone needs to stop him taking office." The man replied.

"Major we can take it from here." One of the security guards said.

"Do you have cells at your security station?" Archangel asked.

"Yes sir we do."

"Take him to one, I'll see what the Commander wants to do with him."

"Yes sir."

As they took the man away Archangel looked down and saw all the rotten tomato on his shirt, "Frak." He said trying to clean it off, it was the only shirt he had with him. It didn't take Archangel long to get back to Vance's suite. Porter met him at the door.

"Major are you okay? You delt with that man so well." He said smiling like an idiot.

"Yes I'm fine." He said walking past him, Vance was sitting down with a large glass of whiskey, "Mr Vance are you okay?"

"Yes thank you." He replied.

Archangel couldn't believe he had just been thanked.

"Major would you like me to clean your shirt for you?" Porter asked, still with the stupid smile across his face.

"No thank you. If it's okay with you Mr Vance I will go back to my quarters and get changed before this afternoons interviews.

"Yes of course Major. See you after lunch."

Johannsen stood on the flight deck with the Chief. Both men stared intensely at a piece of wreckage from one of the Viper Mk 2's.

"So you're telling me that some of these parts could be salvaged?" Johannsen asked.

"Yes sir. Due to the damage Bojay saw I understand why he thought it was all too badly damaged. When this piece was brought in as we passed by I checked it out myself, there are definitely parts here that I can use. They may be from an earlier model to the MK 7 but the parts are essentially the same."

"This could be an opportunity too good to miss. Thank you for bringing this to my attention, I'll have some salvage crews put together." The Commander turned and walked to the nearest phone.

"CIC." He said, moments later he was connected.

"Major Rae." The voice came from the other end.

"Major please have Bojay organise a group of Raptors to escort a salvage team back to the wreckage."

"Aye sir." She replied, "And have a salvage team prepped to go as well. I want as much wreckage as possible brought back for spare parts. Assign Gunstar Aries to go with them."

"Yes sir."

Archangel stood in front of the mirror in his quarters with his uniform on. He knew Vance was not going to like this but it was the best he could do. He strapped on his holster and took a deep breath as there was a knock on the door. Archangel opened it to find Colonel Garrett standing smiling.

"Now that is more like it Major." She said stepping inside and giving him a kiss.

"It feels more like me, but Vance is going to hate it I can tell you that."

"Well he caused quite a stir this morning. I honestly think the vote could be split at the moment."

"So what have you been up to today?"

"Talking to reporters. Civilians have been coming up to me asking me questions. Vance was right about a panic because of Pegasus although it seems to be settling down."

"Pegasus certainly didn't do us any favours, sure hope we catch up with them if they're still out there though."

"Should be interesting, I know the Commander wants Cain immediately removed, no matter what it takes."

"Good. Anyway what are you doing this evening?"

"At the moment nothing, although I could be interested in getting a drink." She said with a smile.

"Sounds good." He replied giving her a kiss.

Archangel took a deep breath before entering Vance's suite again. Porter looked very surprised when he saw the uniform and almost seemed a little nervous.

"Mr Vance I'm ready to escort you back to the auditorium." Archangel said.

Vance looked up and gave a short loud laugh, "Very well Major, but why may I ask are you in your uniform when I specifically told my staff to tell any military that came to guard me to be in plain clothes?"

"I'm sure the Major has a good reason!" Porter said stammering his words out.

"The tomato that hit me stained my suit jacket and it is the only one I have with me. There wouldn't have been enough time to clean it so I put on my uniform."

"You only have ONE suit?" Vance yelled.

"Sir some of us could only carry whatever would fit in a pack when they Cylons attacked and thought ammunition, food and water and meds might help a little more than suits."

Vance shot out of his seat and squared up to the pilot, "Now you listen here you little puke, I'm sick and tired of the military crying about how hard they have it. It never changes and it never will. When I am elected by those laughing monkeys out there I will make sure YOU are removed from Orion and left to rot on the sewage ship."

"Nice to know how you really feel." Archangel replied sarcastically.

"Frak you. I'm going to go back out there and feed those fools the shit they want to hear to get me elected, and then they will do as they're told when I am, PEOPLE WILL LEARN THEIR PLACE! Now get the frak out of my sight I never want to see you again, you're relieved."

"Yes I am Edgar, relieved that I don't have to protect your worthless ass anymore." Archangel turned and stormed out of the room, his anger level so high all he wanted to do was rip Edgar Vance's windpipe out with his bare hands. He took a very deep breath and walked to the auditorium. As he passed people there was a state of shock amongst them. When he entered the auditorium he saw an empty seat next to the Colonel and sat down.

"Before you ask I've been fired." He said as he sat.

"I know." She replied.

"How?" he replied.

She pointed to the speakers, "I can't wait to get my hands on Orion," Vance's voice came from the speakers, "I'll reshape that ship into what it should be. Gods damn it Porter stop flapping or I'll push you out of an airlock myself. I'm sick of all these whining whinging people, I picked you because I though you may have some kind of back bone."

"The microphone he's wearing, for some reason there is a problem with it and they can't get him off the speakers." She said with a smile.

"Is that just in here?" he asked.

"All over the fleet, I just asked the tech guys."

Archangel smiled, this had made his day. As Vance walked out onto the stage to take his seat he was met by booing and abuse from the crowd. He looked shocked, he couldn't think of what he had done to get a reaction like this. He saw Archangel smiling in the front row as he tapped a finger to his chest. Vance looked down and saw the microphone he was wearing.

"Oh frak." He said and heard himself on the speakers. He ripped off the microphone and darted back out of the room.

The Gunstar Aries and eight armed Raptors kept watch as the crews of the three salvage ships went about their work.

"I was hoping to never have to see this again." Bria said as she looked out onto the wreckage.

"Certainly hits home." Bojay replied.

Everyone was silent on coms. The graveyard span a long way in front of them, where their comrades had fallen.

"This is Salvage ship Goliath to Raptor one please respond." A voice said over the com.

"Goliath this is Raptor one everything okay over there?"

"Yes sir I just wanted to in form you that we have found four more bodies and are brining them aboard."

"Thank you Goliath." Bojay replied.

Minutes passed until they had been there for two hours. As the last of the wreckage was being brought aboard dradis started to beep.

"Dradis contact, one Cylon Base ship, right on top of us." Bria said from the back.

"All ships this is Raptor one jump back to the fleet immediately." He ordered as the Aries opened fire next to them.

"Okay Raptors get ready to cover the salvage ships while they jump away." Bojay ordered as he brought the Raptor to the other side of the civilian ships.

"Weapons free." He ordered.

All Raptors fired a large barrage of missiles at the oncoming raiders destroying them and making others turn away. As the next wave turned on them they fired again taking more of them out.

"Last ship is away," Bria said, "All ships jump immediately." She ordered.

As the Aries took a missile hit all the ships jumped away and rejoined the fleet.

"Orion this is Bojay, we have all the wreckage but the Cylons found us, it might be an idea to jump to the escape coordinates."

"Thank you Captain come on home." Major Rae said from the other side of the com.

The following day Natasha Cobb stood in front of the media with the Quorum and Milo Vents stood behind her.

"Ladies and gentlemen, people of the fleet. After the equipment malfunction yesterday, which caused Edgar Vance's private conversation to air across the fleet, he has withdrawn from the presidential elections. The Quorum, the captain's of the fleet and Commander Johannsen have all agreed that as we now only have one candidate left the elections will now be cancelled and former mayor of Caprica city Milo Vents will be sworn in as president this afternoon. Mr Vance has asked me to send his heart felt apologies to the people of the fleet…."

Vance sat alone in his suite drinking a bottle of whiskey. He was angry with himself, as well as everyone else who did nothing to stop this from happening. He looked up as the door opened and Mr Caprica walked in followed by two large men. He sat down before he spoke, the men taking up position each side of him.

"Edgar what have you done?" he asked.

"It was a simple mistake." He replied.

"A mistake that has a knock on effect. A lot of work was being put into your winning this election. A lot of favours had to be called in from a lot of different people and for what? A favour is used up even if nothing has come of it."

"I'm sorry, I'll make up for it, there has to be something you can do still?"

"To what end? In the space of five minutes you turned from a respected man into the most hated person in the fleet. There is nothing that can be done, you have blown the chance we had to tighten our grip on this fleet. As for you making up for it well it's too late for that. We the twelve have decided that we cannot afford to have anything further to do with you. Our cause hangs in the balance, we cannot be associated with you."

"What am I going to do?" Vance asked.

"Nothing. We the twelve have decided and that is it." Mr Caprica stood up, "Goodbye."

As he turned to walk away the other two men both produced silenced guns from under their jackets. Before Vance even had a chance to scream they had both shot him in the head, killing him instantly.

Later that afternoon Milo Vents stood in front of a packed auditorium, cameras flashing away as well as the red light of cameras recording. Brother Ramok took to the stage and opened the sacred scrolls he had with him. He shook Milo's hand before speaking.

"Please repeat after me." Ramok said.

"Of course." Milo replied.

"I Milo Vents." Ramok said.

"I Milo Vents." He replied.

"Do now avow and affirm, to hereby take the office of the President of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol."

"Do now avow and affirm, to hereby take the office of the President of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol." Milo replied.

"Without any moral reservation or mental evasion."

"Without any moral reservation or mental evasion."

"And I will protect its people with every fibre of my being."

"And I will protect its people with every fibre of my being."

"I now pronounce you President of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol." Ramok said with a smile.

As he finished speaking thunderous applause and cheers broke out in the room. President Vents smiled and waved before taking the podium, "Thank you so much. I promise that as your president I will protect your freedom and your liberties. Along with Commander Johannsen, the Quorum and the rest of the government we will strive to and stop at nothing to find you a new home. The days and months ahead will be hard and we will all be tested to our limit, but I know that if we continue to stand together and continue to support each other then we will prevail. Over the coming days and weeks your new government will be fully formed and I want to tell you that we are here to serve you. Any queries or questions will always be answered and we will always strive to do our best for you. You have my word that what happened to the civilians found by Pegasus will never happen to you. Leave those fears and doubts behind and focus on today and the future that we have to make ourselves. History will look back and marvel on the survivors of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol, not only did they survive against insurmountable odds but they flourished, they stood tall and they were never beaten."

The ballrooms and dance halls of the Starburst were full of parties, people kicking back and enjoying themselves. Commander Johannsen stood with President Vents in the main ballroom.

"Well Mr President I am pleased to say the right man won out." Johannsen said.

"Thank you Heinrick. Although I must say that I would have very much enjoyed beating Vance in the vote count."

Both men laughed and shook hands.

Milo held up his glass of ambrosia.

"To the people of the fleet." He said.

"Here here." The Commander replied.

Archangel sat with Vannick, Bojay and Bria drinking and chatting.

"Oh man that must have been amazing to witness, I would have loved to have been there." Bojay said.

"Knowing you, you would have been at the front booing the loudest and throwing things." Vannick replied with a laugh.

"You know me, let it never be said that Jimmy Johnson doesn't give the crowd what it wants." Bojay replied taking a sip from his drink.

"Oh I'm sure you've given plenty of people far more than they were expecting!" Bria replied sarcastically.

"Hey!" Bojay exclaimed.

Archangel was distracted by Colonel Garrett. She walked in wearing a red cocktail dress and looked stunning.

"Excuse me guys." Archangel said standing up and walking over to her.

"My oh my I wonder what is going on there?" Bojay said.

Bria punched him hard on the arm.

"Good evening Colonel, may I say how lovely you look tonight." Archangel said kissing her hand.

"Thank you. A chance to wear something like this doesn't come round very often." She replied with a smile.

"Would you like to dance?" he asked.

"I would love to." She replied.

The commander walked out of the ballroom and headed off towards the hanger bay.

"Commander." A voice shouted.

Johannsen turned to see D'Anna Biers walked up to him.

"Good evening Miss Biers what can I do for you?" he asked.

"I have a message for you." She replied before stabbing him repeatedly in the chest and stomach.


	12. All Hell Breaks Loose

Archangel and Garrett danced in the Starburst's giant ballroom.

"You know everyone is watching us, this will be across Orion by tomorrow morning." Garrett said quietly.

"Who gives a frak, they can talk all they want." He replied with a smile.

"Moments like this make me forget where we are and everything that is going on around us." She said.

"What the frak?" Archangel said.

"What is it?" she asked.

Archangel pointed over to the chaos going on outside the hall.

"Something is going on there are marines and medics." He said.

"Leave it, if they need us they'll come get us." She replied.

The two continued to dance. The moment stopped as Bojay came over to them.

"Sorry to interrupt but you have to come." Bojay said.

"What is it?" Garrett asked.

"The commander has been stabbed." He replied.

They all quickly made their way outside.

"Oh my gods." Garrett said putting her hand over her mouth.

The Starburst medics worked to try and help the commander who was bleeding heavily from the seven stab wounds he had received. Garrett saw the marines holding D'Anna tightly in their grasp, she had blood running from being punched in the mouth.

"Did you do this?" Garrett asked walking over to her.

She didn't reply, she stood there and smiled. Garrett punched her as hard as she could, breaking D'Anna's nose.

"Take her to Orion and throw her in the brig." Garrett ordered.

"Yes ma'am." The marine sergeant replied.

"Colonel." One of the medics said, "We don't have the medical facilities to deal with this kind of injury on Starburst, he will need to be taken to Orion or the Medstar."

"Bojay get the commander to Orion." Garrett asked, "We'll follow."

"Yes ma'am."

"This is bad." Garrett said as she sat in the back of a shuttle with Archangel.

"He's strong. The doc will be able to help him." Archangel replied putting his arm round her.

Minutes later they were getting off the shuttle on Orion's flight deck. As the Raptor in front opened D'Anna was literally thrown out, hitting the ground with a thud, followed by the marines and medics with the commander. Dr Hammond met them and immediately took the commander to sickbay. The marines dragged D'Anna away.

"Major I want you to follow her to the brig, find out why she did this." Garrett said.

"Yes ma'am. If she won't talk?"

"Do whatever it takes to make her talk. When you've finished put a bullet in her brain."

"Yes ma'am." He replied.

Archangel stood looking at D'Anna through the window as he prepared himself. He took a deep breath before opening the door and walking inside. She smiled up at him.

"Hello Major, any chance of unfastening these cuffs?" she asked.

"Who sent you to kill the commander? Or did you do this all by yourself?" he asked as he sat down.

"All in good time Major. We have a lot to talk about and I have a lot to tell you. Don't worry you won't need to use any of your torture skills on me."

Archangel was a little confused, "Excuse me?"

"Oh Major don't be so surprised, I've read your sealed personnel records."

"What? How?"

"Come on, if you think about it I'm sure you'll figure it out." She replied.

Realisation hit him like a brick, "You're a Cylon."

She smiled and nodded her head, "Yes I am. And I have a lot to tell you, some of which I've been told to say, other things that I feel you've earned the right to know." She replied.

"Are there more Cylons in the fleet?" he asked.

"Yes there are and it was one of them who told me to murder your commander. You see we're having a few problems with Orion. We didn't realise just how powerful she is. Some of my brothers and sisters are even scared of her. So if we can't destroy it from the outside we thought it would be better to do it from the inside. With Commander Johannsen dead the ship is weakened."

"Well it's a good job that he's not dead." Archangel replied.

"Yet." D'Anna replied.

"I want the names and a description of every cylon in this fleet."

"Well I can tell you now that is not going to happen. I will tell you lots of other juicy tidbits but that is off the table. No matter what you do to try and make me tell."

Garrett now back in her uniform walked into sickbay.

"How is he?" she asked.

"Bad," Hammond replied, "He has two knife wounds to his left lung, his stomach is torn to shreds and there is major bleeding. I'm about to operate and see how much I can fix." She replied.

"Okay, keep me informed." Garrett replied.

"Of course." Hammond replied.

Garrett walked to the CIC in a daze. The happiness and calm she had been feeling less than an hour ago was now gone. She tried to collect her thoughts, to make sense of what had happened. As she walked onto the CIC everyone turned to look at her.

"How bad is it?" Major Rae asked.

"Very." Garrett replied, "Please put me through to the entire ship."

"Channel is open." Lieutenant Taylor replied.

"All hands this is the XO. I must inform you all that Commander Johannsen has been stabbed. He is currently receiving treatment from Dr Hammond but his injuries are very very serious. All we can do now is wait and prey that he will be okay. I will keep you all informed when more news comes through."

"Who did this?" Major Rae asked.

"The journalist who interviewed Archangel, D'Anna Biers I think her name is. Archangel is questioning her now.

"Colonel I have the president on the line for you." Taylor said.

Garrett picked up her handset, "Mr President."

"Colonel I've just heard, how is he?"

"Not good sir, the doctor is with him. Archangel is questioning the woman who attacked him."

"I just wanted to let you know that if you need anything at all I will make sure you get it. Please keep me informed of his status."

"Thank you sir I will."

As she put the phone down she sighed a little, "Major I want you to reassign any hours you have as LSO to someone else, I need you here as my second for now."

"Yes Colonel."

"So do you want to know about Cylons?" D'Anna asked.

"What is there to know, you're robots made to look like us." Archangel replied.

D'Anna let out a laugh, "If only it were that simple. There are 12 models of human Cylon and multiple copies of each one, but I'm guessing you knew that part already."

"I've seen three different types of male. And I've killed as many of them as I could."

"But that's the thing you didn't kill any of them." She replied.

"That's funny because they all seemed to die to me. Shoot them, stab them, they all stopped breathing eventually, if that's what you even do."

"Only a cylon's body can die, our mind, our consciousness is downloaded into an identical body and then we carry on as normal. Cut us, shoot us, split us open we look like you inside and unless you know there is no way that you can tell."

Archangel was taken a back by this news.

"What's wrong Major, cat got your tongue? You can't beat us, no matter what you do."

"We will see." He replied.

"That's all I have to tell you for now, come back a bit later and we'll talk then."

Archangel didn't even question what she had to say, he stood up and walked out. As he shut the door behind him he looked like he had seen a ghost.

"Are you okay sir?" one of the marines outside asked.

Archangel nodded in reply, "Do not let anyone in here till I get back."

"Yes sir." The marine replied.

Archangel kept on walking and before he knew it he was outside the pilots mess. He walked inside and poured himself a large drink of whiskey and downed it in one. As he put down the glass he realised everyone in the room was looking at him.

"Are you okay?" Wedge asked.

Archangel nodded, "Yeah I'm fine." He walked over to the phone on the wall and picked it up.

"CIC." He said, moments later Lieutenant Taylor picked up on the other end.

"CIC." She said.

"Is the XO there?" he asked.

"Yes she is."

"I need to speak with her now."

"Garrett."

"Colonel I need to see you straight away. I have some news, you'd probably better get the President over here as well."

Archangel sat in the XO's quarters facing Garrett and the President.

"Do you think she's telling the truth?" the president asked.

"Yes I do," Archangel replied, "She just gave me this information. She says she has more to tell me."

"This certainly puts a different slant on things." Garrett replied.

"Is there any news on the Commander?" Archangel asked.

"Nothing yet." Garrett replied.

"What do you intend to do with the Cylon once you've finished with her?" the president asked.

"That all depends on whether or not the commander survives." Garrett replied.

Colonel Garrett sat next to the commander as he lay on a ventilator fighting for his life.

"Commander I don't know if you can hear me or not but we need you, you have to pull through." She said quietly to him. She wiped tears from her eyes as she spoke, "I can't do this by myself."

"Colonel." Dr Hammond said.

"Yes doctor, how does it look?" Garrett asked.

"Touch and go. The internal damage was very severe, I managed to fix it for now but he had lost an awful lot of blood. We'll know more over the next twenty four hours."

"Thank you." Garrett replied.

"Colonel if I can be honest I would prepare for the worst."

As the doc walked away she turned back to look at the commander and put her head in her hands.

"Hey."

She looked up to see Archangel sitting next to her. He took her hand and smiled.

"Hey, have you spoken any more to the Cylon?"

"No I was just about to go and talk to her again."

"Dr Hammond has told me to prepare for the worst." Garrett said.

"Vanessa if the worst happens you'll be fine." He replied.

"No I won't. I've been an XO for a few months, I'm nowhere near ready to be the CO."

"Lets just take one step at a time, the Commander could still pull through."

"I hope so." She replied.

He kissed her on the forehead as condition one began to sound.

"Launch alert vipers, three Cylon base ships have just jumped in." Major Rae said over the COM.

Orion opened fire with everything it had as the Base ships launched raiders and missiles.

Archangel was one of the last vipers to launch and immediately engaged a small group of raiders, tearing two of them apart with his opening volley of rounds.

"Vipers seven and twelve you have a heavy raider inbound." Archangel said.

As viper seven turned it was hit by fire from the heavy raider.

"Frak this." Archangel said, "Viper twelve I'm on my way."

Archangel flew at full pelt dodging away from all the enemy fire. He switched to missiles and waited to get a tone. As the targeting system locked he fired, seconds later the missile hit its mark and the heavy raider exploded.

"I have a raider on my six and I can't shake it." Bojay said over the COM. Once he had given his position Archangel did a 180-degree turn and fire walled his throttle.

"Bojay this is Archangel I'm on my way, hang in there buddy."

Archangel could see a raider out of the corner of his eye as it turned on him. Before it could open fire Wedge appeared taking it out.

"Archangel this is Wedge I have you covered."

As Archangel neared his target he saw Bojay's raptor take a hit making him loose control for a split second. As the raider picked it's kill shot Archangel opened fire and kept his finger on the trigger till the raider exploded.

"Bojay this is Archangel, get your ass back home, you've got a lot of damage." Archangel said.

"Archangel Bojay on my way." Archangel could hear sirens blazing over the COM as Bojay spoke.

The CIC was busy as it always was when they Cylons attacked.

"Colonel gun captains report the EMP warhead is ready to use if you choose to." Major Rae said.

"Tell them to load it and fire at the closest base ship. Once it's hit blow it out of the fraking sky." She replied.

The fight was fierce. All the pilots wanted to take out as many Cylons as they could. The moral had taken a huge hit since the commander had been attacked and a lot of frustration and anger was being taken out on the raiders. Archangel noticed the blue streak the EMP warhead left behind in the sky as it launched from Orion. As it hit its mark the base ship flashed with streaks of blue electric currents before becoming dead in space. As it began to drift Orion directed its fire at the base ship destroying it quickly. The engaging raiders all broke off their attack at the same time and headed back to their base ships.

"Orion this is Archangel the raiders are bugging out."

"Archangel, Orion come on home." Major Rae said in reply.

As the vipers and raptors turned to head back to Orion the two remaining base ships jumped away.

"Good work guys." Archangel said to his fellow pilots over the COM.

D'Anna sat by herself in the darkened cell in Orion's brig. She looked up and smiled as Archangel walked in.

"Good to see you survived Major, how's the Commander doing?"

Rage took over Archangel, he was on her before she could open her mouth. He picked her up by the throat and pinned her against the wall with one hand while the other pressed one of his side arms into her temple.

"Eight of my men and women just died because of your people, you don't get to make comments like that or ask about the commander is that clear?"

D'Anna couldn't breathe let alone speak, she managed to nod her head. She was astounded that a human could be this strong. He let go and she fell to the floor coughing for air. He sat down and glared at her as she picked herself up and sat opposite him.

"Talk." Archangel said.

"What do you want to talk about?" D'Anna replied.

"Don't test me I'm not in the mood. You've read my file so you know what I am capable of, you may download but before you do you'll be begging me to kill you."

D'Anna looked into his eyes and knew that he wasn't lying, "Firstly you are not the only survivors out here in open space."

"We know Pegasus survived and we found wreckage of some of Galactica's fighters. Tell me something I don't know."

"The Leonidis survived as well along with a number of other Battlestars."

"Which ones?"

"I can't tell you." She replied.

"Oh you will tell me." He said taking a knife out of his pocket.

"You misunderstand, I can't tell you because I don't know. I haven't been on a base ship since the attack started and the other cylon I've been in contact with didn't tell me."

Archangel had been watching her carefully and as far as he could tell she was telling the truth. But he couldn't be sure that the tells a human has when he or she lied applied to the Cylons as well.

"Go on."

"I know that the Galactica is looking for Earth."

"You've got to be kidding me, Earth doesn't even exist!"

"That's where you're wrong. It very much exists. Galactica found Kobol and that gave them a map to Earth."

"Do you know where Kobol is?"

"Give me a pencil and a piece of paper." She said. Archangel slid them over the table and D'Anna struggled to write on it. When she had done Archangel took them back off her.

"And what is this?"

"The co-ordinates of Kobol and where we believe the tomb of Athena is. There is a chance that you won't be able to see what they did as you need the arrow of Apollo."

Archangel laughed out loud, "You toasters really do believe in some fraked up shit."

"It's not fraked up, find the Galactica and you could find the salvation you so desperately seek."

"What I can't figure is why you would want to help us, let alone have us find Galactica?"

"Because I wanted to give you all this real information so when I told you the last piece of information I have for you, you would know I wasn't lying."

"And what is that?" she asked.

"Not yet, I want you to check out those co-ordinates first, then I will end our conversation and I guarantee your whole world will be shaken." She dared a smile as she spoke.

As he walked out of the cell the Colonel and the President met him.

"Did you hear all that?" Archangel asked.

"Yes we saw and heard everything." Garrett replied.

"I'm sorry I lost my temper." Archangel replied.

"Don't worry about it." The President replied.

"What do you want to do about these?" Archangel asked handing Garrett the piece of paper.

"We could send a recon to see what's out there." Garrett said.

"I'd like to go along for the ride." Archangel said.

"Of course but at the first sign of a Cylon trap I want you all back, no heroics." Garrett said.

"Yes ma'am." Archangel replied.

Archangel sat next to Bojay as he led the four raptors towards the jump.

"I can't help but feel this is a trap." Bojay said.

"I agree," Archangel replied, "Bria I want everyone's FTL's to be ready to jump out as soon as anything kicks off."

"No problem." Bria replied from behind them, "Okay people jump on my mark. In 5… 4… 3… 1… jump."

The four raptors all flickered away before reappearing on the other side.

"Frak me." Archangel said.

"Looks like she was telling the truth." Bojay replied.

"I'm picking up radiation from a nuclear explosion." Bria said, "There is a large amount of wreckage showing on dradis."

"Let's take a look." Archangel said.

"All raptors form up on me we're going to check out this wreckage." Bojay said.

The four raptors turned and made their way to the debris field.

"Wow the readout from that planet is amazing. Atmosphere we can breath, oceans, vegetation. We could live here." Bria said.

"That is till the Cylons come back." Bojay replied.

As the rounded the planet they saw the base ship wreckage spread as far as the eye could see. This made them smile.

"Looks like Galactica gave them a good kicking." Bojay said.

"Good for them." Archangel replied, "Okay lets take a look on the surface, see what's going on down there."

President Vents walked onto Orion's CIC, all the crew stood to attention.

"At ease please." He said almost embarrassed.

"Mr President how can we help you?" Garrett asked as she walked over to him.

"I've just had a disturbing conversation with the captain of the Starburst. They've just found Edgar Vance's body in his suite." He replied.

"Vance is dead? Do they know who killed him?" she replied.

"No but after his little outburst was broadcast across the fleet I can't say I'm surprised. He had been shot twice in the head."

"Do you want me to assign someone to start an investigation?" Garrett asked.

"No. The captain told me he is going to have someone look through the security footage but there wasn't much of a shot of the corridor where his suite was. The fact there is so much traffic coming and going from the Starburst is going to make it nearly impossible for us to find anything."

"Fair enough." She replied.

"I've just been to see the commander. Dr Hammond says there has been no change."

"I've just spoken to her, I suppose no change at this point is good."

"How are you holding up?" he asked.

"The best I can. I'm trying to focus on work. We haven't heard back from the raptors yet and the Cylon refuses to talk to anyone other than Archangel."

"Would you like to see if she will speak to me?" he asked.

"You can try but the chances are she won't speak to you either."

"No but maybe she will at least listen." He replied.

The four raptors touched down high in the mountains on Kobol as close as they could to the co-ordinates they had been given. As they began to walk Archangel took out the motion tracker Mike had made from him on Caprica.

"What's that?" Bojay asked.

"It's a motion tracker. It detects Cylon and humans within a few hundred feet. Metal toasters appear in red, skin jobs and humans are green."

"Impressive." Bojay replied.

"The EMP warhead was made by the same kid, he's a fraking genius." Bria added.

As they walked into a clearing they saw a stone door in the rock face.

"So this is the tomb of Athena then?" Bria said.

"It's open." Archangel said drawing one of his side arms, "Ready to see what's inside?"

"Not really." Bojay replied taking out his weapon.

They pushed the door further open and walked inside.

"Oh my gods." Bria said.

They were all shocked to see the statues of the symbols of the colonies.

"This is too much." Archangel said, "This has to be fake."

"It's not." Bria replied.

"How can you be sure?" Bojay asked.

"I may not be religious but I've read the scrolls and scriptures, they talk of the tomb of Athena on Kobol and this is what they describe. I mean look at these they've been here for a long time." Bria replied.

"So what about this arrow of Apollo?" Archangel asked.

"It should be here with Sagittarius. If someone from Galactica has been here they must have taken it with them." Bria replied.

"Frak, then we're never going to find them." Bojay said.

Dr Hammond sat in sickbay reading through some paper work. Aside from a broken ankle from one of the raptor pilots while playing Pyramid and a couple of cases of Tauron flu she was able to keep her eye on the commander. No matter how much she wanted to be she wasn't hopeful. The damage she had witnessed inside the man should have killed him outright. She knew he was a strong man and right now that was the only thing keeping him alive. She yawned and rubbed her eyes. She was waiting for one of the doctors from the Medstar to come over and relieve her so she could get some rack time. She didn't want to leave the commander without a doctor at any point. As she took a sip of water the alarms on the commander's heart monitor began to sound.

"Frak." She said as she darted over to him. His vitals were crashing. When she touched his stomach she new something was wrong. She darted over to her intercom.

"Guys I need you in here, we have to take the commander back into surgery."

The medics who were in their rest area in the next room darted through as quickly as they could.

"Colonel the raptors are back." Lieutenant Taylor said.

"Get Archangel on the horn." She replied.

Moments later his voice came through the speakers.

"The info was good. We found a debris field from a base ship and the tomb on the planet." Archangel said.

"Did you see the map she spoke of?" Garrett asked.

"No, if anyone from Galactica was there with the arrow they took it with them. There were statues though of the ancient symbols of the colonies."

"Okay get yourselves back onboard, see what else she has to say."

"Yes ma'am." He replied.

"Colonel I've just had one of the medics on the COM, they've had to take the commander back into surgery." Taylor said from her station.

Garrett fought to keep her composure, she had to stay strong for the crew.

"Thank you Lieutenant. If any of you prey," she said to the staff of the CIC, "Now is the time."

Archangel stepped back into D'Anna's cell and sat down.

"You found Kobol?" she asked.

"Yes we did and the tomb of Athena." He replied.

"So you've seen the map?"

"No, whoever has been there they took the arrow with them. I need you to tell me which way Galactica went."

"Once again I can't answer that, I haven't been included in that information."

"So what else can you tell me? Is there any point in me not sending you back to your brothers and sisters as you call them?"

"I have one last piece of information for you, now you know that I have been telling you the truth."

"Enlighten me." He replied.

"Grace is a Cylon."

The words hit him hard, "What? No that's not true."

"It is. She is a model number six. She was sent to you after we intercepted your transmission to Admiral Negala."

"But she saved my life so many times." He said.

D'Anna smiled as she spoke, "Her mission was to infiltrate your group and gain your trust."

"But she can't be, I don't believe you." He said getting to his feet.

"At first she was loyal to us, she reported in when she was supposed to and followed her orders to the letter. Then she stopped turning up, around the time she fell in love with you. That part was real you can believe that. When we knew you were getting closer to Caprica it was decided that she should be removed from your group as there was more chance of you seeing a six, so we staged that little fire fight to retrieve her."

Archangel looked like he was getting angry.

"When she came back to us she told us that she had been pregnant."

Archangel didn't know what to do with this information, tears started to stream down his face.

"We should have realised then that she would harbour some hatred towards us but we let her go down to Caprica to resume the work she was supposed to undertake before we sent her to you. She killed a large number of Cylons before making an escape and we haven't seen her since."

"She turned her back on her own people?" Archangel said.

"She hates us more than she hated the humans before we sent her to you and my god she hated humans. Because of you she is a traitor to her own."

"Where is she?" he yelled.

"I just told you Major we don't know, but I would imagine you'll see her again."

Archangel kicked the chair he had been sitting on with all his strength and it shattered on impact with the wall. He took out one of his side arms and pointed it at her hatred in his eyes.

"There is one more thing, that centurion didn't kill your friend Danny, Grace did."

"No that I don't believe." He replied.

"Well you should, because it was me who ordered her to do it."

As she finished speaking he pulled the trigger blowing her brains all over the wall behind her. He dropped the weapon before upturning the table. He walked over to her, bent over and began to beat her lifeless corpse with all his strength.

"YOU MOTHER FRAKER!" he screamed as he beat her skull into a pulp. When there was literally nothing of her head left to beat he broke down in tears. With everything else that was going on this was the final straw that took him to breaking point. The door to the cell opened and Colonel Garrett walked in with the president, they both looked horrified when they saw what Archangel had done and the broken man that kneeled in front of them.

"What happened?" Garrett asked walking over to him.

Archangel couldn't speak, his whole world lay in tatters around him. He looked up at the young Colonel and then looked over at what was left of the Cylon.

"Lies, that's all it ever was, that's all they ever say." He said as he rubbed the tears away from his face, leaving the blood of the Cylon in their place.

"Come on lets get you out of here." She said trying to help him to his feet. The president picked up his side arm and handed it to him.

"Thank you." He replied.

Major Rae stood on the CIC. It was so silent you could hear a pin drop. She took a sip from her coffee and looked at the dradis console for what must have been the hundredth time that hour. The silence was broken by Lieutenant Taylor's COM buzzing.

"CIC." She said as she answered it, "No but Major Rae is." She turned to the OOD, "Major it's Dr Hammond."

"Put her through." Rae picked up the handset.

Garrett and the president stood talking after they had helped Archangel to his quarters.

"I've never seen him like that, whatever she said to him has torn him apart." Garrett said.

"Do you think he will be okay?" the president asked.

"I don't know, I hope so." She replied.

"Colonel Garrett contact CIC, repeat, Colonel Garrett contact CIC." A voice over the intercom said.

"Please excuse me." She said. She had a horrible feeling in her gut that this was going to be bad but she tried to ignore it as she was put through to Major Rae.

"Everything okay up there Major?" she asked.

"I've just been speaking to Dr Hammond. I'm sorry Colonel but we've lost the Commander."

"Oh gods no." she said dropping the phone.

Milo knew what had happened without being told. He gave the Colonel a hug. Neither of them spoke for what seemed like an eternity.

"I have to tell the crew." She said wiping the tears from her face and composing herself.

"Would you like me to tell them?" he asked.

"No thank you sir, but it should come from me. How the hell are we going to cope without him?"

"One thing at a time, Colonel." He replied.

Archangel sat in the shower in his quarters with the water beating down on him. He had coped with the destruction of the colonies and the death of Danny. Grace's apparent death had taken him to the edge, now this news was on putting him so close to the edge he felt like he would fall off. D'Anna had said she loved him and she had become a traitor to her own people. He didn't even know what to make of the pregnancy never mind the news that she killed Danny. All he knew was the confusion he currently felt. He had loved Grace more than anyone else he had ever met and he knew without being told that she had loved him. You couldn't fake the way she had been with him of that he was certain. He had seen her risk herself to save him and the others. Skeeter would have been dead if it hadn't been for her. He came to it a little when he heard the COM flicker to life.

"All hands this is the XO." He heard, "We have just received word that despite Dr Hammonds best efforts the Commander has passed away. Words cannot express how distraught I have to give you this news. Johannsen was a great man and no one will be able to fill the role he has left behind and the sorrow that I know you all feel right now. News will follow when the Commanders funeral will be and on who it was that killed him. Right now we need to continue to do our jobs, we have to try and focus and continue for the sake of the Commander." Tears once again fell down Archangel's face.

On the CIC everyone was distraught, many of the crew had broken down. Major Rae's usual steely composure was beginning to crack.

"Colonel we need to talk in private." The President said.

"Yes of course. Major please take the CON." She said quietly.

"Yes ma'am." She replied.

The walk to the Colonel's quarters was silent. Garrett tried to walk with purpose as she passed her crew torn apart by the news they had just received. As they entered her quarters she took out two glasses and a bottle of whiskey and poured them both a large glass. As they sat down Garrett took a long gulp of her drink.

"Colonel I don't know if this is the best time, or even if there will be a right one but we need to talk about where we go from here." He said.

"Where we go?" she replied, "We're fraked."

"I need you to take over as commander." He said,

"Me?" she exclaimed, "I've been an XO for a few months, what the frak do I know about commanding a Battlestar?"

"More than anyone else. You are the next in line, Heinrick chose you because he knew you were capable of doing the job."

"Promote Archangel." She said.

"Archangel isn't the XO you are and he is in no fit state to take command right now."

"I don't know if I can do it." She said quietly.

"He had faith in you, the same faith I have. I've met a lot of CO's and XO's in my time and you are one of the few who has genuinely impressed me. I hereby promote you to the rank of Commander of the Battlestar Orion." He said.

"Yes sir." She replied.

Archangel stood looking at the photographs of the dead. He stared at Grace's photograph before taking it off the wall.

"You're not dead." He quietly said.

"Major Hunter to the Commander Garrett's quarters repeat Major Hunter to Commander Garrett's quarters." Taylor's voice said over the CON.

"Commander Garrett." He said to himself, "The president doesn't waste much time."

As Archangel entered Garrett's quarters she smiled at him.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Not really, you?"

"About the same." She replied.

"I'd say congratulations but I don't think it would be appropriate." He said sitting down.

"I think you're right there." She said, "Listen I need you to be my XO."

"No." he replied.

"No?"

"Considering what's happened the most effective place I can be for you right now is as CAG."

"But I need you." She replied.

Archangel walked over to her and held her in his arms.

"I'm not the right person for the job." He said quietly, "But you know I'll always be here for you when you need help."

Garrett gently pushed him away and sat back down.

"Whom do you recommend I choose then?" she asked.

"Major Rae. She's already the ships second officer and she's good at the job. She's wound as tight as an XO needs to be."

Garrett laughed a little, "Okay."

"Listen do you want to meet up for a drink later on, we can toast the commander." He asked.

"No. Whatever is between us has to stop. I'm the CO now and I need to focus my attention on the crew."

"Okay." He replied.

"What did she say to you?" Garrett asked.

"Lies plain and simple. She was trying to get under my skin and she succeeded."

The president stood in front of all the press in the main auditorium of the Starburst.

"As I'm sure many of you are by now aware Commander Heinrick Johannsen commanding officer of the Orion has died today. I'm sure I speak for the entire fleet when I say that we are all deeply saddened by this news and we send all the ship's crew our heartfelt sorrow and continued support through this terrible time. What you are not aware and I feel it is now time to reveal to you all is that he was murdered by a Cylon." There was a collective gasp of horror around the room, "We have discovered recently that the Cylons have the ability to appear human. This woman, D'Anna Biers was one such Cylon. We have also learned that there are multiple copies of each Cylon. Anyone who sees someone who looks like her should immediately contact the Battlestar Orion or the Office of the President. Do not confront anyone you suspect. It is at times like these when we need to band together more than ever before. We must stay strong in the face of our enemies and if we stick together we will prevail."

Orion's flight deck was full of people wanting to pay their last respects to Commander Johannsen. His coffin, covered in the flag of his home colony sat in one of the viper launch tubes. The mood was sombre and people's emotions were high. Brother Ramok stood before the crowd.

"Lords of Kobol hear our prayers. Please take the soul of our comrade Heinrick Johannsen and guide him to the afterlife. May he be reunited with the souls of those friends and loved ones who have passed before him. In the few encounters I had with the commander I found him to be a kind and loyal man. His dedication to his crew and the people of this fleet was unmatched by any other. Commander Garrett has asked to say a few words." Ramok moved aside as Garrett took the podium.

"Is there anything that can make this better? I really don't know. Can we prevail without him? I don not know that either. What I do know is that this ship will continue to stand for all the values that the commander gave us. We will continue to defend this fleet as the commander wanted and we will find a new home. He was by far the greatest commanding officer I have had the honour to serve under. There were too many CO's in this fleet who ruled with an iron fist and used fear in an attempt to get the best out of the men and women who serve under them. If there is one thing I learned from the commander it is that way of command does not work. You need a fair and nurturing hand. I don't know if I will be able to fill the gap the commander has left us with. But I promise you that I will try and I will do my best for you all and to use the tools that he has left me with. I won't let you down sir." As she finished speaking she turned around and sat back down.

Ramok took the podium again, "Thank you Commander Garrett. Now as we send our fallen comrade into the next life." As Brother Ramok spoke the launch tube doors began to close and all the military saluted, "We prey that his lasting influence will help guide us and keep us safe in the days to come. So say we all."

"SO SAY WE ALL." The noise thundered through the flight deck as everyone spoke the words in unison.

As the commanders coffin gently found itself in open space Orion's main battery of cannons fired five shots each in respect for their fallen commander.

Archangel sat in Brother Ramok's sanctuary that he had made on the Starburst. The only light in the room came from the dozens of candles that had been placed around.

"How can I help you my child?" Ramok asked.

"My whole world is falling apart." Archangel replied, "The things the Cylon told me, the things I've seen over the last day or so I don't know how to process them."

Ramok handed him a glass of water, he took a sip before he carried on, "I always thought the sacred scrolls and other religious things were just stories, but I set foot on Kobol, I walked into the tomb of Athena. Now something that I thought was just a story seems real."

"The confusion you feel is understandable. As you say something you have disregarded your whole life has now come and shown you the proof that you needed to see in order to believe. While you still may not find comfort in religion it may help you understand what is going on a little more. What is happening to us now was prophesised in them."

"But what has hit me that hardest is the last thing she said to me. She told me that Grace is a Cylon, a model number 6 and she is still alive."

Ramok looked surprised, "Do you believe her?"

Archangel nodded his head, "Yes I do. She told me that Grace turned her back on her own people and they now view her as a traitor. She said that she did it because she loved me."

"And you doubt that love?"

"I love her more than anyone I've ever met before and I honestly believe she loved me."

"In my many years I have witnessed the love between a man and a woman many times and I can honestly say to you that she truly loved you."

"What confuses me the most is now I know she's a Cylon my feelings haven't changed, through all the pain I've been feeling through the last couple of days it's still there. What's wrong with me?"

"Nothing is wrong with you. Whatever she was you must focus on how she made you feel, on the things you witnessed her doing, like saving lives. Let me ask you, what would you do if she were to walk in here right now?"

Archangel sighed, "I would be happy, all I want is to see her again," tears rolled down his face, "Even though she killed Danny."


	13. Darkness Rises

Five raptors lead by Bojay and Bria jump into a small planetary system. The three planets in the system orbited a small sun. A small habitable planet had the furthest orbit while two desolate planets sat nearer to the star. At the edge of the system sat a small asteroid belt. While two of the raptors broke away to head for the asteroids Bojay led the others towards the planet.

"Okay boys and girls you all know your areas, lets make lots of low passes and take as many readings as we possibly can." Bria said.

Bojay took the Raptor through the atmosphere at the top of the small world and began to take readings. The last week had been hard on the Raptor squadrons of Orion. They had been sent out every day looking for anything that could be useful. Bojay had put himself and Bria up for nearly every search mission as he felt the need to lead by example since the commander had been killed. Archangel and some other viper jocks had even been helping out to try and lighten the load. When astrometrics had found this system it seemed that the long hours of searching might finally be about to end.

"How does it look?" Bojay asked.

"Very very good." Bria replied, "The ice from the northern pole can be taken to the ships and melted down. The next continent down is rich with vegetation and fresh water as well, we've hit the jackpot."

"About fraking time." Bojay replied clearly relieved.

On Orion Archangel walked towards the commander's quarters ready for the morning meeting. Commander Garrett had taken her time to move into them. She had packed all of Johannsen's things in her off hours and had placed them safely into storage. She hadn't wanted to move into them at all but knew she had too. Archangel had tried to help her but she had refused point blank. Since she had become the CO she had distanced herself from any personal dealings with the crews. He had been impressed with how she had handled the transition to commanding officer. Mike had made things a little easier for her by delivering twenty-five EMP warheads, which she had distributed between Orion and the four Gunstars. As he reached her quarters he greeted the two marines standing guard who both let him in. Colonel Rae was already there and to his surprise so was the President.

"Sorry I'm late." He said sitting down, "There have been some problems installing the gun cameras on the new vipers."

"Don't worry about it Major." Garrett said sitting down and handing him a coffee.

"Thank you." He said as he took a sip out of the oversized mug.

"I'm sorry to have crashed your morning meeting but I have received some disturbing news that I needed to share with you." The president said, "My aid found these yesterday." He handed each of the officers and leaflet that read 'NCO – Learn the Truth'. Inside were personal details about some of the Quorum, things that they would not want people to know. As well as details on the 'New Colonial Order' and their plans for peace and harmony throughout the fleet.

"This is not good." Rae said.

"I doubt the representative for Libran wanted us all to know that?" Archangel said with a look of shock on his face.

"Whoever this NCO is they're trying to rock the boat and they're succeeding," the president replied, "There have already been calls for these five members of the Quorum to be replaced."

"Do we know anything about them at all?" Garrett asked.

"No, only what it says here in the leaflet. But it worries me that there are people out there who have been planning this. It says at the end that this is only the start. If they're prepared to shame these people like this then I do not look forward to seeing what the next step is." He replied.

"What do you intend to do with the five people named in here?" Rae asked.

"I've already spoken to them and they have handed in their resignations. Their replacements are being looked into. A government scandal at this stage is the last thing we needed."

"What do you want us to do about this?" Garrett asked.

"There isn't much we can do for now. There is no way to find out where these came from. All I would ask for you to do is keep listening into the fleets chatter, see if any mention of the NCO comes up."

"Of course." Garrett replied.

Lieutenant Mac "Underdog" Jennis piloted his Raptor through the small asteroid belt.

"The scans are picking up zilch on metallic ore." His ECO Ensign Beth "Animal" Turner said from the back.

"See if Acid has found anything." Underdog replied.

"Acid this is Animal any joy with the scans?" she asked.

"Animal this is Acid negative on the scans, do you want to rejoin the others?"

Underdog thought for a few moments, "No let's go check out that moon, call it a hunch."

"That's a negative Acid, Underdog wants us to take a quick look at that moon." Animal responded.

"No problem." Came the reply.

The two raptors flew back out from the asteroids and headed the short journey to the small moon and began to scan again.

"Wonder how come this is all the way out here on it's own?" Underdog said.

"No idea." Animal replied, "After some of the things we've seen on these scouting missions over the last week I wouldn't even want to hazard a guess."

As the Raptors began their sweep the monitors in front of Animal began to beep.

"Oh man that was one hell of a good hunch." Animal said, "This little moon is full of ore, enough to build a frak load more vipers and raptors."

Underdog smiled to himself, "Lets head over to the planet and tell Bojay what we've found."

News of the successful Raptor recon was met with the return of high spirits throughout the battle group. The last few weeks had offered nothing but disaster followed by disaster. Bojay sat in the wardroom with the commander, XO, Archangel and president.

"While the asteroid field was a bust the moon near it wasn't," Bojay said showing a picture of the solitary moon, "Readings indicate that there should be enough metal ore throughout to be able to make dozens of vipers or raptors. The planet is full of everything you can think of, water, fruit etc there is even fields of grain. If I didn't know better already I would say that farmers lived there. All in all there is enough here to top us up and keep us going for a long time. The system as we thought is very small, should the Cylons find us then they would be right on top of us before we know it. I would suggest that we only take those who are necessary into the system and take the fleet somewhere else."

"There are people in the fleet who already have been asking if they can get time on the planet." The president said.

"I'm not sure that's the greatest of ideas." Garrett said, "We don't want to get caught having to ferry people back and forward should the toasters show up."

"Never the less I doubt that is going to stop people from wanting to go down and stretch their legs." The president replied.

"I'll leave the decision up to you Mr President," Garrett said, "Let us know what you decide and we will figure out the easiest way of getting people on and off."

The pilots briefing room was full of new recruits for vipers and raptors. When a call went out across the fleet asking if anyone wanted to join up, there had been some surprise that so many people had responded. Archangel in particular had not expected much in the way of a reply. Lieutenant Paul "Scud" Wilson had pulled the short straw and was the trainer of new pilots. Before being assigned to Orion this had been his job on Caprica, he had requested the job on Orion, as he had wanted to get back into the cockpit. For those who didn't know him he was the most imposing character on the whole ship. At just over six foot he was pure muscle. With his closely shaved head he also had a look that would scare the life out of most people. His gruff voice to most was scary enough without his shouting. These nuggets had been with him for nearly two weeks now and had all learned quickly that to mess with him or give him the slightest amount of crap would result in the most frightening talking down they had ever received.

"While we are in the system we will have plenty of time for you to all be in the cockpit. We will use this asteroid belt. We will have training runs from one side to the other. This will help you avoiding random fast moving objects. A raiders movement is random, every one is different, and you cannot predict where they will be or what they will do."

He stopped talking as Archangel walked in, the nuggets hadn't noticed, "CAG ON DECK." He bellowed.

All the nuggets quickly stood to attention.

"At ease." Archangel said as he walked to the front of the room, "How's it all going?"

"Well," Scud replied, "They're coming along well."

"Excellent. What would you think about giving them some time in the CAP?" he asked.

"Yes sir they'll be fine with that." Scud replied.

The nuggets all began to look a little worried.

"Good I thought it would be a good chance for them to experience it while things are quiet."

"I'm also having them practice maneouvers throughout the asteroid field."

"Excellent. You two," Archangel said pointing at two pilots in the front row, "Skids up in forty minutes."

"Yes sir." They both replied nervously.

Three days later the supply missions were underway. The mining ships in the fleet were all at the moon drilling for the metal ore under the protection of the Gunstars. Orion sat in an orbit around the planet while the rest of the fleet sat in the small system. Supply ships and shuttles moved too and fro the planet, taking its natural resources away and taking civilians down to the surface for some time on the small planet.

Bojay and Bria touched down at the edge of the small civilian camp that had been formed. Bria quickly stepped out of the back and smiled as she felt the warmth of the sun.

"This is nice." She said sitting down on the grass.

"It feels like a lifetime ago that I saw the sun." Bojay replied.

In front of them there was a large area where the civilians were and they seemed to be enjoying themselves. Bria sat down in the grass.

"Just being on a planet and not having to take anti radiation meds is going to be nice." Bria said.

"So is this all you pilots do these days?"

They both looked up to see Skeeter walk over to them. Bria smiled and got up to hug him.

"How are you?" she asked.

"Good, you?" he replied.

"I'm good, enjoying the planet?"

"Oh yes I was lucky enough to get down here yesterday as well."

"How's life on the Starburst?" Bojay asked.

"Good thanks," he replied, "It's nice to finally get to live a little."

The mood on Orion like with the rest of the fleet was good. The hanger deck was bustling with life, people going about their jobs as well as shuttles and ships coming and going from the planet. Archangel sat in his viper running through the ships systems and tweaking them to make his ship more responsive. He had been trying to get this viper so it reacted how his ship on Atlantia had but there were still a few things that just didn't feel right to him.

"Everything alright in there?"

Archangel looked up and saw Commander Garrett stood smiling.

"Yeah getting there." He replied.

"You're not going down to the planet?" she asked walking up the ladder leading to the cockpit.

"No I've had just about enough of planets to last me a while." He replied, "You?"

"I'm going to head down tomorrow, I'm actually really looking forward to it." She replied with a smile.

Archangel smiled back, "Good I'm sure you'll have a great time."

There was a brief moment of silence between the two, "How are you holding up?"

Archangel looked up at her, "Better." He replied, "You?"

"Coping. I was wondering if you wanted to get together this evening for a drink and chat?" she asked.

"Sure. I'll look forward to it." He replied with a smile.

Things never seemed to get any easier for the new President. First the commander's death, now the disgrace of five members of the newly elected Quorum of twelve. The only comfort he felt in this was that he hadn't hand picked them himself, the people had put them in power, and he just needed to be seen to clean up the mess in a way that appeased the people. The seven remaining members of the Quorum sat around the table with him.

"The replacements should be ready to join you all within the next few days," the president said.

"Do we know yet where this information about them came from?" James Cooper the representative for Leonis asked.

"No, but due to the nature of some of it, it was bound to come out eventually. The press have asked for interviews with the five former members, I have declined on their behalf."

"Might it be better if they do give an interview?" Cooper asked.

"I don't believe it would. Miss Barker has already informed me of her embarrassment from what has happened. This was something she did a long time ago and she had hoped it would stay hidden in her past. Anyway I think we should move on from this. The topic of colonisation of the planet seems to be coming up a lot which comes as no surprise to any of us I'm sure."

"I think we should push for it." Sandra Walker, representative of Geminon replied.

"Personally I think that would be a bad idea." Taylor Wilkins Sagitarrons representative added.

"I have to agree with Mr Wilkins. Commander Garrett thinks that it would be unwise as well. The Cylons are finding us to often at the moment to think it would even be wise. This is a rest stop. Nothing more."

"The people of the fleet disagree Mr President." Walker replied.

"Well the people of the fleet are who I am thinking about. The commander and I both agree that would be a bad move so we will carry on once we have all the supplies we can carry."

"This NCO leaflet is telling people they want to find them a planet as soon as possible, they're going to rear their heads now we've found somewhere." Walker said.

Skeeter was enjoying being on the planet far more than he had expected. He sat in the civilian camp enjoying a cup of coffee. There were dozens of other people around him all enjoying the planet the same as him. As he took a sip from his drink he smiled at a young woman who walked past who totally ignored him. He chuckled to himself. As the woman turned and faced the person she had been walking with Skeeter noticed the handle of a handgun under her jacket. Skeeter looked around and noticed a few more people he hadn't seen before and the handle of another gun under someone else's jacket. After putting down his coffee he got up and quickly left the area. What the frak was going on he wondered, it could be nothing, just people who had taken it upon themselves to carry weapons, or it could be something else. A large explosion suddenly rocked the whole camp, knocking Skeeter off his feet, as he hit the ground his head hit a rock, knocking him out cold.

"What the frak." Bojay said as they heard and then saw the explosion. As both pilots got to their feet to find out what had happened they were surrounded by armed men and women.

"Don't fraking move or you're both dead." One of the men shouted as both pilots were relieved of their sidearms.

"I demand you tell me what is going on?" Bojay ordered.

The man closest to him smacked Bojay in the side of the head with the butt of his gun.

"You're in no position to demand anything Captain." The man replied.

A young woman stepped forward out of the group.

"Follow us, behave and you'll both be fine." She said with a smile.

Commander Garrett stood on the CIC signing some paper work. She was looking forward to heading down to the planets surface later on, she smiled to herself as she imagined the feel of the sun on her skin. As she handed a young ensign the signed paperwork the speakers on the CIC crackled to life.

"People of the fleet I am the representative of the New Colonial Order. We have decided that it is now time that we reveal ourselves."

"Lieutenant Taylor what the frak is going on?" Garrett asked.

"I've no idea ma'am, I can't figure out where this is coming from and I can't block it." She replied.

"The civilian population of the fleet have nothing to fear from us. We only want what is best for you, we want you to be free and not under the control of the office of the president and the colonial military. We have taken control of the planet and the people here are under our protection. We demand a face-to-face meeting with President Milo Vents so that we can discuss his immediate resignation and control of the fleet being handed over to you the people. The president has one hour to reply, we will message him back via the Battlestar Orion. If he does not speak with us we will execute one of the military prisoners we have on the planet. If any shuttles or ships come down to the planet we will execute a military prisoner."

"Commander we have the president on the line." Lt. Taylor said.

"Put him through down here." She replied.

"You heard all that?" the president asked.

"Yes sir, I want all civilian ships out of the system with the Gunstars."

"Very well commander I'll defer to you. I'm going to head over to you straight away."

"Yes sir, we have to discuss what we are going to do."

As the fleet began to jump out of the system Scud received the recall to bring the nuggets home.

"Okay guys we're going to have to call it a day and head back in," he said, "Form up on me and we'll head back in."

The nuggets all turned to head out of the asteroids.

"Down to the military dictatorship." They heard over the com. Before Scud could even react one of the people he thought was a nugget opened fire on him hitting his engine. The viper exploded into a ball of flames killing the pilot instantly.

"Oh frak, Scud is dead!" one of the nuggets screamed over the con, "Orion one of the other nuggets killed Scud."

The NCO who had been pretending to be a nugget turned on the others killing two more of them straight away. The other nuggets turned off their safeties and tried to remember all they had been taught and attempted to engage the rouge pilot. One by one the nuggets were taken down until there were only two left. As one of the pilots closed her eyes and prepared for the end the CAP arrived and took out the NCO.

"Nuggets are you okay?" Wedge asked over the con.

"Y…Y…yes sir." Came the reply.

"Orion this is Wedge rouge pilot taken down, there are only two nuggets left." He said.

"Bring them back in." Colonel Rae replied.

On Orion's CIC tensions were high after what had happened. As Archangel walked on deck the commander immediately met him.

"Did you hear what happened?" she asked.

Archangel nodded, "Mother fraker killed Scud."

"Wedge took him out but he only managed to save two of the nuggets." She replied.

"Son of a bitch." He replied.

"I want a strike mission onto the planet. I want all these NCOs dealt with."

"When you say dealt with?" he replied.

She looked at him, "You know what I mean."

"Yes ma'am, I'll have options ready for you within the hour." He replied turning and walking away.

When Skeeter came round the first thing he noticed was the ringing in his ears. He remembered the explosion and rubbed his head. He looked up and saw there was no one about. He took a few deep breaths and got to his feet. He staggered on the spot for a moment before walking away from the camp. When he reached the tree line he could see the civilians and the military had been taken captive. He walked a little further and saw the Raptor, there didn't appear to be anyone there. As he neared it he saw he had been right, it was empty. While no one was watching he darted inside and opened one of the side compartments. He took out a side arm and it's holster as well as a rifle and extra magazines. Before he turned to leave he noticed a radio as well and took that. After strapping the holster to his leg he carefully checked outside, there was still no one looking. He darted back outside and into the tree line back out of sight. He looked down at the radio, he wracked his brain to try and remember how this worked, and the last thing he wanted was the enemy to hear him.

The president was led onto the CIC.

"Commander I was sorry to hear about your men." He said.

"Is there any indication at all as to where these NCO came from?" she replied.

"No, the leaflets appeared and no one seems to know where from."

"This isn't good enough, somebody has to have seen something." She replied.

"I've requested that the captains of all the ships check through any camera footage to see what they can find."

Garrett looked pissed off, he could tell that she wasn't happy at all.

"Commander I have Skeeter on the line, he is requesting to speak with you." Lieutenant Taylor said.

"Tell him now isn't a good time." She replied.

"You may want to take this Commander, he says he's on the surface." She replied.

"Put him through down here. Mr President, Colonel." They all picked up a phone and listened.

"Skeeter are you okay?" she asked.

"Yes commander, I'm on the planet and I don't think they know I'm here." He replied.

"Skeeter this is the president what happened?"

"I'm not sure. I noticed people with guns. I went to get Bojay but there was an explosion and I was knocked out cold. When I came too everyone had been taken captive. I managed to get to Bojay's Raptor and arm myself and get this radio."

"Okay Skeeter I want you to stay out of sight but I want you to try and get positions of the enemy and how many there are. If they find you do not engage them. Archangel is putting together a rescue plan, stay on stand by and we'll be back in touch." Garrett said.

"Yes commander, I'll see what I can do."

After he went of the line Garrett smiled.

"Do you trust him?" the president asked.

"Yes," she replied, "Archangel trusts him with his life so that is more than good enough for me."

Bojay and Bria sat in a tent with a group of other captives. Bojay spat out a mouthful of blood.

"You okay?" Bria asked.

"Yeah, I've bee worse." He replied.

"You have to do something." Captain Raymond Smith said to them.

"We're not going to do anything for now. We're unarmed and we don't know how many of them there are." Bojay replied.

"Fine if you don't do something then I will." Raymond replied.

"Stay where you are and shut the frak up," Bojay ordered, "Or you'll get us all killed."

"You had your chance fly boy." Raymond said standing up and walking to the front of the tent. As he looked outside someone from outside knocked him on the ground. Maggie Tolan, the woman who had taken Bojay and Bria walked in flanked by two other men.

"And where exactly do you think you're going?" she asked.

"Someone has to stop you." Raymond replied.

She laughed at him, "Trust me honey you're not that person." She raised her weapon and shot him in the head, killing him instantly.

There were screams from around the tent.

"Anyone else who decides they want to try and stop us this is what will happen to you." She said with a smile.

They walk back out leaving the body in the tent.

"Everyone you need to stay calm." Bojay said, "This situation will be dealt with and we'll all be home before you know it. As long as we stay calm then everything will be fine."

The others in the tent didn't seem very reassured by Bojay's words.

"Did you see Skeeter when they were rounding everyone up?" Bria asked quietly.

Bojay shook his head, "No, I'm just hoping they didn't find him."

Skeeter lay in the undergrowth looking through a pair of binoculars. He had counted at least twenty people so far. He had been looking for Bojay and Bria but so far hadn't seen them. He reached for his radio, moments later he heard Lt. Taylor on the other end.

"This is Skeeter I'm calling with an update." He said quietly.

"I'll put you through to the commander now." Came the reply.

He waited for a few moments before he heard Garrett, "Skeeter are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah. I wanted to let you know that so far I have seen at least twenty bad guys. They appear to have the civilians in tents, I can't see what's going on. I did hear a gunshot a few minutes ago."

"Did you see what happened?" she replied.

"No a gunshot then a lot of screams. Sorry I couldn't see."

"Okay," she replied, "We will be getting back in touch with you very soon with details of a rescue mission."

"I'll keep watch till then." He replied.

Archangel walked onto CIC with a plan ready for approval, before he could speak the representative's voice came in over the con.

"Is the President there?" he asked.

Milo picked up one of the handsets, "Yes I'm here."

"Good. We demand a face to face meeting with you to discuss terms of your immediate resignation and turning over of the fleet to the people."

"You really think I should trust you after what just happened to some of Orion's pilots?" he replied.

"We are unaware of anything that has happened." He replied.

"One of your men murdered one of Orion's squadron leaders and several new recruits."

"That is unfortunate Mr Vents. No one had instructed anyone to do that. Whoever did this was working on their own."

"I find that hard to believe."

"I don't care what you think. You have one hour to come down to the planet and hold discussions or we will execute a hostage starting with Captain Johnson. You have one hour, the clock is ticking." The line went dead.

"Tell me you have a rescue plan Major?" Garrett asked.

"Yes ma'am I do but it is risky." He replied.

"What is it?" Milo asked.

"Well we can't risk putting a Raptor in the atmosphere as the sonic boom will alert them to our presence. I want to put three Raptors above the upper atmosphere and then the rescue teams will jump and land here." He said pointing to a hilly area on the map he brought, "When we're on the ground we will quickly make our way to the camp and eliminate all the hostiles."

"Can you guarantee there won't be any civilian casualties?" Milo asked.

"No sir I can't but right now this is the only option that we have other than you going down to the planet and talking to him."

"That's not an option." Garrett said, "How long before you can be in the air?"

"Ten minutes," Archangel replied, "I hope you don't mind but I took the decision to get teams of marines ready, I just need to kit up."

"You're going as well? Surely the marines can handle this." Rae said.

"Yes ma'am I am going." Archangel replied.

"Very well," Garrett said, "Run with it."

"Yes ma'am." Archangel replied.

"Good hunting." Milo said.

"Thank you sir."

"Lieutenant Taylor please inform Skeeter of the plan and tell him where the teams will be jumping in." Garrett ordered.

"Yes ma'am." She replied.

Maggie Tolan walked into the tent where Mika Thorne aka "the representative" sat. He looked nervous.

"How did the call go?" Maggie asked.

"I don't know." Mika replied, "I have no idea if the President is going to come down or not."

"Well we will know in an hour." She replied, "Listen whatever happened the twelve will be pleased, you followed their orders to the letter."

"Yeah." He replied putting his head into his hands.

She looked at him for a few moments, she had known him over ten years and she knew there was more than she was being told.

"Mika tell me these were the twelve's orders?" she said.

He looked up and shook his head, "No they're not."

Maggie was stunned, "What? But you said."

"I was taking the initiative." Mika told her.

"Taking the initiative? Are you for fraking real? Do you know who the twelve are? Do you know the kind of people they were before the attack?" she yelled.

"Yes of course I do." He replied.

"Then exactly what part of your fraking brain told you this was a good idea? We're fraking dead. Either the military or the twelve, one or the other. You mother fraking MORON."

"Calm the frak down." He said standing up.

"Gods I hope it's the military." She said to herself.

"CALM THE FRAK DOWN!" he screamed slapping her so hard she fell to the ground. Rage built in her quickly and she got back to her feet with her gun in her hand. He put his hands up and backed off a little.

"I'm sorry." He said.

"You don't know the meaning of the word. Do the others know?" she asked.

Mika shook his head, "No, this was all me."

"Then I prey that me killing you will prove to the twelve I had nothing to do with planning this."

"What? You're not going to kill me, I love you."

"No you're trying to kill me." She pulled the trigger shooting him in the heart. He fell down dead.

People ran in from outside.

"What the frak." One of the guards shouted.

"He screwed us." Maggie said.

"What are you talking about?" he replied.

"This job wasn't ordered by the twelve, he took this on himself."

Archangel boarded the last raptor ready for the jump. Vannick who was already there met him.

"You sure this is going to work?" he asked.

"Sure," Archangel replied with a smile, "You never jumped from this far up before?"

"Not quite, I take it you have?" Vannick asked.

"Not this high but I've seen it done. Lt. lets get up in the air." He said as the hatch closed.

Vannick was lost for words. The Raptors moved out and were taken up to the launch bay. Minutes later the raptors were flying out into space. It didn't take them long to make it into the planets orbit. Everyone seemed nervous as the hatches began to open. Things were about to get very hot with only their suits to protect them. They had been designed to take this amount of punishment but only a handful of people had managed to be able to do the jump since they had been created. Archangel was the first person to jump out, everyone else followed him. This was one of the biggest rushes Archangel had ever felt, it was incredible.

"Wahoo!" he screamed as he plummeted through the small planets atmosphere.

Skeeter began to make his way to the meeting point. He lit a cigarette as he walked. It reminded him of being on Caprica, he found himself expecting a centurion to jump out at any moment. As he took a drag he found himself face to face with one of the NCO. Both men seemed surprised and for a split second they just stood looking at each other. Skeeter dropped his cigarette and went for his side arm. Before he could get to it the other man dived on him. Both men fell to the ground and Skeeter was dazed by the punch to the face he received. He tried to ignore the sting and pulled up his arms to defend his face from another attack. Skeeter kneed the man in the back, which made him fall to the ground. He moved as quickly as he could and got to his feet, he took a step backwards and took out his gun but not before the NCO did and shot Skeeter in the chest. He dropped his weapon and fell to his knees as he looked down at the blood pouring from his chest. Immediately he knew it was bad, he looked up at the gun pointing at him and smiled, he could die here with the sun beating down on him. He closed his eyes and despite the pain took a deep breath.

"I'm coming Danny." He said quietly to himself then he heard the shot he had been waiting for, but no bullet hit him. He opened his eyes and saw Archangel and a group of marines running over to him. The man who had shot him lay on a heap in the floor with a bullet wound in the back of his head. Skeeter slumped backwards onto the ground as Archangel reached him.

"Hey." Skeeter said quietly.

"Hey you hang on in there." Archangel replied as two of the medics began to cut of Skeeter's shirt.

"It's okay," Skeeter said, "I can die here."

"Well I'm not going to let you." Archangel replied.

One of the medics turned to him, "We need a Raptor or a shuttle to get here ASAP."

Archangel took the radio from his belt, "Orion this is Archangel come in."

"Archangel this is Orion." Taylor replied.

"We have a man down and I need a raptor to head to the surface right away. Tell the representative the president is coming down anything but I need that Raptor here now."

"Archangel this is Garrett how bad is it?" she asked.

"Very, Skeeter has been shot in the chest. Send the Raptor, by the time they realise it's not the president it will be over, they won't know what hit them."

There was a pause, which seemed like an eternity, "They're on their way."

"Thank you, we'll be at the camp shortly." He put his radio back on his belt, "You two stay here and make sure he doesn't die. The rest of you, quick and silent I want them all dead." He walked over to Skeeter, "Buddy these guys are going to patch you up, you'll be back on Orion before you know it and the Doc will have you as good as new. I'll see you soon."

Skeeter smiled and took his friends hand for a moment before they all moved away.

"What the frak are we going to do?" Maggie said.

"Okay how many of these people know our faces?" Jasper Jones replied.

"The ones in the tent with the pilots." Maggie replied.

"So we put them down and then merge into the crowd." Jasper replied.

Maggie took a deep breath, "Lets do it." She said.

They walked out of the tent they were in and walked the short distance to the other tent. As soon as they walked in Bojay knew something was wrong, he like the others had heard the gunshot. He could tell by the look on Maggie's face things were beginning to fall apart.

Archangel and Vannick moved quickly on the two armed men who hadn't seen them and fired with their silenced pistols killing the two men instantly. Silently they kept moving unseen by anyone else. Archangel pointed to the tent nearest to them where he could hear a commotion and Bojay's voice clearly through the chaos. Vannick nodded and followed him.

"You kill us and Orion won't stop till you're dead." Bojay said.

"You're no one in the scheme of things, just some Raptor pilot, no one is going to miss you Captain Johnson." Jasper said raising his weapon. Bojay almost breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Archangel and Vannick appear behind the two NCO. Neither man waited to give the enemy the chance of getting the upper hand and fired killing Jasper and Maggie instantly. The civilians began to get to their feet.

"Everyone my name is Major Hunter from Orion, please you all need to stay here while we secure the area. You are all safe now."

Bojay gave a smile as he walked over to his friend.

"Am I glad to see you two." Bojay said.

"Likewise." Archangel said handing Bojay one of his sidearms and Bria his rifle, "Stay put as well and end any NCO who come this way. Radio up to Orion and let them know what's going on."

"Will do." Bojay replied taking his radio.

As Archangel and Vannick left the tent all hell broke loose and a fierce firefight broke out around them.

Garrett paced along the CIC, she hated not knowing what was going on. The president and Colonel Rae stood with her on the deck, none of them spoke, they all wanted to know what exactly was going on and patience in this kind of situation was hard to come by for all of them. Lt. Taylor broke the silence.

"CIC." She said, all eyes turned to her, "Copy that, keep us appraised." She looked up at the commander, "That was Shakespeare ma'am they've broken through the atmosphere and will be on the ground in five minutes."

Now things were tenser. Had Archangel and his team of marines got to the camp in time, the next few minutes would tell.

"CIC." She said again, "Putting you through Captain. Commander I have Bojay on the horn."

Seconds later his voice and the sounds of gunfire could be heard across the speakers.

"This is Bojay. Archangel is here and he and the marines are taking out the NCO, we are okay, repeat we are okay."

"That's excellent news Captain." She replied.

"Please repeat your last I can barely here you over the gunfire." He replied.

"Call us back when the whole area is secured." She said.

"Copy that." He replied.

The tension on the CIC hadn't been alleviated.

"It'll all be okay." Milo said.

"I hope so." Rae replied.

All the rest of the NCO seemed to be cornered in one specific area and the marines had them surrounded.

"All of you, you have ten seconds to surrender or we will kill you all." Archangel yelled.

There was silence for a few moments.

"The NCO will prevail over the military." A voice shouted before several gunshots were heard, and then nothing, as the echoes of the gunshots died away there was silence. Archangel looked over at Vannick who shrugged. Holding his sidearm tightly and stood up and walked towards where the NCO had been. He holstered his weapon when he saw what had happened. The seven remaining NCOs had killed themselves.

"It's all over." Archangel called out.

Vannick and the other marines walked over and saw what had happened.

"What the frak." He said.

"Maybe they were under orders not to be taken prisoner." Archangel replied, "Can I borrow your radio?"

Vannick handed it to him. "Orion this is Archangel the camp is secure, the remaining NCO killed themselves instead of being taken prisoner."

"Good work Major." The president said.

"Be on standby, shuttles and Raptors will be heading to the surface to take everyone home." Garrett said.

"Yes ma'am. Is there any news on Skeeter?"

"The Raptor is on its way back to Orion as we speak, he is still alive."

As soon as they were back on Orion, Bria, Vannick and Archangel went to sickbay as quickly as they could. When they arrived Annie Fry one of the ships medics met them.

"Any news?" Bria asked.

"He's still in surgery," Annie replied, "He'll be in there for a while, the bullet has done a lot of damage to his left lung. We'll let you know as soon as he is out of surgery."

"Can we wait?" Archangel replied.

"Of course." She replied.

They sat in the waiting area. Archangel found himself silently praying for Skeeter's survival. This was the first time he had prayed in as long as he could remember. He couldn't loose another person so close to him. He knew he had to hold it together for now. He looked over at Bria and Vannick who also looked very worried. They had all been through a lot together on the colonies and it had brought them close together.

Milo Vents walked out onto the stage to give another press conference. He longed for the day when he would be giving good news, today however wasn't going to be one of those days.

"Ladies and gentlemen, people of the fleet, by now I'm sure you have all heard what happened on the planet today. Once again I am here to give you the facts. A terrorist group called the New Colonial Order took the civilians and military on the surface by force. At the same time a member of this terrorist group posing as a new recruit to Orion's viper ring murdered six other new recruits as well as one of the squadron leaders Lieutenant Mac Jennis. These murders as well as that of Captain Raymond Smith of the Mussa Sala were all done in the name of "freedom". I have authorized Commander Garrett to hunt down and put a stop to this new colonial order, we will not stand idly by anymore while good people while innocent people are hurt and killed by these people. I urge you the people of the fleet to be vigilant, if you know anything, if you have seen anything please get in contact with us before it is too late. They claim that they want to hand the fleet over to the people, to make sure you have a safe place to live, to give you back your freedoms but I am here to tell you that people who want these things do not take actions like this. Your freedom has never been in question, we strive every day to keep you all alive and to find us all a new place to call home…."

Before Milo could say anything more static came over the speakers and a different voice took over, one which had been altered to keep its owners anonymity secure.

"Now it's my turn to speak," the voice said, "My name is Mr Caprica and I am one of the twelve who are the New Colonial Order. The first thing I want to tell you is that we are not terrorists. We are not responsible for the things that happened today. The people who did these terrible things are not part of the New Colonial Order, they use our name to do these things, to tarnish the goals we strive for. It is our greatest sorrow that people died today, that these lives were taken in our name. We hope and pray to the gods that the injured people currently being treated survive. I must reiterate that we are not terrorists and we do have your best interests at heart. We want the presidency and the current government to step down so that you the people can have a more direct say in what happens day to day. It was unfortunate that we had to show the dark and insipid pasts of some members of the Quorum of twelve but we did it to show you the type of people who you have in these top positions. Whether it was the drugs shame of the delegate for Canceron or the previous work the delegate for Libran did in the porn industries of Virgon these things should be known by you, the people. We the twelve were going to reveal ourselves to you when we left the planetary system but these terrible crimes committed in our name have forced us to stay hidden, for now, for fear of retribution by the people in the fleet who will not believe what I am telling you right now. In time, once we have proven ourselves to be worthy of your trust we will reveal ourselves and we will show you the way to your salvation but for now, live well and be safe."

As Skeeter came round he had expected to be in more pain than he was, then he realised that it must be pain medication the doctor had given him. He looked down and saw a dressing on his chest as well as the faint outline of blood coming through it. Doctor Hammond smiled down at him when she saw him come around.

"Hey there." She said.

"Hey." He replied groggily.

"You gave us quite a scare."

"Am I going to be okay?" he asked.

She nodded, "Yes you are but it's going to take you a while to get over your injuries. Your left lung sustained a lot of damage from the bullet but I've managed to patch you up. I don't suggest you try to take any deep breaths right now, as it will hurt like hell. I also have to tell you that you're going to have to quit smoking."

"Frak," he said, "Seriously?"

"Yes, the damage you sustained to your lung as I say is very serious and any more smoking would cause a lot of damage and over the short term would probably kill you. The good news is that by the time you get out of here you'll be over any cravings and it should all be out of your system. Along with the painkillers I'm giving you I've added a little something that should help to suppress those cravings. You're a lucky man Skeeter, the gods must be looking out for you."

"More like an Archangel." He replied.

"Speaking of which you have some people here who are all very keen on seeing you." The doc said. As she stepped away Archangel, Vannick and Bria appeared.

"I know as kids we always wanted the same toys and stuff but I draw the line at matching scars." Archangel said with a smile.

"Trust me that's one thing you could have kept for yourself." Skeeter replied, "Did you get them all?"

"We sure did buddy and everyone is back safely aboard." Vannick replied.

"That's good." Skeeter said.

Colonel Rae stood on duty on the CIC, she was glad things were starting to get back to some kind of normalcy.

"Colonel I have the XO of the Starburst on the horn, they've found three dead bodies on different parts of the ship and they are requesting someone from Orion to come over." Taylor said.

"Tell them we'll be in touch shortly and get the Commander. Why can nothing ever be smooth sailing around here?" Rae said.


	14. Delta Seven

Mining Base Delta Seven was one of ten deep space tylium mines built by the colonies. Delta seven was the furthest out into space, placed on a small moon that was in orbit of a long dead world it was the most prolific in it's production. Its small crew of six were coming to the end of their two-year rotation.

The small base which spanned four miles across the surface was largely self serving, run by state of the art computers making life far easier for it's crew. While some of its technology was the most advanced available it skirted closely to what was illegal.

Jessie Anders was the stations commanding officer. At twenty seven years old she was the youngest person in charge of one of these facilities. The young woman was a former Raptor ECO, she had to leave the service after an accident had left her with terrible injuries. Her raptor had been caught in a mid air collision and she had lost both her arms. In the months that followed she was offered a life changing procedure by the Vergis Corporation, which had seen her receive two cybernetic arms, which once they had been attached looked no different to normal ones. It had been viewed as being very controversial at the time but she didn't care as it had given her a normal life again. Most of the crew called her by her old call sign, Hydra.

She walked into the large control centre and the lights flickered to life. As usual she was the first one on duty. She had gotten used to that fact a long time ago and if she was honest she enjoyed the quiet time first thing in the morning to get her head together, the rest of the crew always made up for any lost time so she didn't mind.

"Good morning Hydra." the base's computer said.

"Good morning Delta, anything to report?" Hydra replied.

"Baskets eight through twelve were all filled to maximum over night. I sent them to the bin to be emptied and recommence filling."

"Thank you," Hydra replied taking a sip from her morning coffee.

"Only five more days and your tour is over, are you looking forward to returning home to Tauron?" Delta asked.

"I sure am but I'm trying not to think about it just yet, replacement crews for these bases are notorious for getting here late."

"I'm sure this time they will be on time." Delta replied.

"We'll see." Hydra replied.

Simon Given, the bases engineer finally decided to get out of bed. He had hit snooze on his alarm clock five times now and knew he wouldn't be able to get away with a sixth. If Delta saw he was still in bed she would take it upon herself to make sure he was awake. The twenty four year old male had long black hair and a stubble goatee. He looked more like the lead singer from a metal band than an engineer. His quarters were plastered in movie, sports posters as well as pictures of his favourite bands and models. Even though he had finished student life years before he still lived like one. He guzzled down the remains of a glass of water he had by the side of his bed before standing and stretching. He looked at his watch, there was no way he had time for a shower so he pulled on his clothes and headed out. The large base was like a maze. The grey walls and walkways were as uninspiring. He hummed to himself as he walked down the long corridor that ran from the living habitat into the main control area of the base. Before getting to the control centre he walked into the mess and walked over to the coffee machine and poured himself a large mug.

"Hey Delta are there any more of those pasties left?" he asked the computer.

"Yes Simon there is, they are in cupboard 4C."

"Thank you Delta." He said as he walked over to the cupboard. He smiled as he saw a new box of his favourite breakfast food. None of the other crew liked them, which was fine by him, they were one of the best pastries he had ever tasted.

"Nice strawberry." He said as he took three out of the box.

Kal Bright who was the bases drill mechanic and demolitions expert walked in as Simon took a big bite out of the pastry.

"I've told you before kid those things will kill you." He said in his gruff voice.

"And the amount of cigarettes you smoke won't?" he replied.

"Very funny, now get to work." He said.

Kal was unlike any of Simon's other friends. The 6ft 7" giant was as broad as he was tall. Before being stationed here he had worked on some of the mining platforms of Aquaria. In his time he had worked on some of the most inhospitable and inhabitable places in the colonies. The man had taken Simon under his wing and had treated him like an adult where a lot of people didn't because of how young he was. They were always making fun of each other and pulling practical jokes, some of which Simon knew for a fact if anyone else had done them would have landed them in hospital.

As Simon walked onto the control centre the smiling face of Hydra greeted him.

"Good morning, this must be a record, I didn't have to send Delta to get your ass out of bed."

"Good morning Jess," he replied, he had always preferred to call her by her name instead of her old call sign, "Thought as there is only a few days left I had better make more of an effort. So is there anything for me to fix today?"

"Actually no, everything seems to be working."

"Typical, we have to fix nearly everything as we go along and the next crew will get it all in perfect working order."

"Them's the breaks." Hydra replied, "Just try to look busy and don't play your games too loud."

Simon smiled. Days like this were few and far between, most days he was out at some remote point of the base fixing something else that had broken overnight. Hydra always let him relax when these days came round. He may be late for duty most days but she forgave him because of how much work he usually had and because of just how good he was at his job.

"Dana Shelby, Medical officers log. Thankfully we've had a quiet month, Simon seems to have passed through his phase of injuring himself. It's given me enough time to run inventory for whoever is coming to replace me. We're doing well on supplies, all items we need a restock for was sent in a message to give enough time to bring it all out with our replacements. On a personal note I'm glad our tour is nearly over, I miss home. It seems so long ago that I saw Caprica and I never thought I'd miss it so much. When the last messages arrived there was a job offer from Caprica City General offering me a position as head of their ER, which I have accepted. It seems like forever since I last worked in a hospital I can't wait to get back to helping people every day. More than anything I can't wait to meet my niece. My brother Andrew keeps sending me pictures and videos of her. She's getting so big now, as long as our replacements are on time I should be home in time for her first birthday. He also told me about Michael my ex, apparently he's started drinking again and keeps asking when I will be back. There is something I can do without. He only ever seems to want to talk to me when he's drinking, when he's at his most needy and dangerous. I was hoping rehab would have helped him but it only seems to have been a stopgap. I may have to rethink that restraining order against him. Anyway I better go show my face, make sure everyone's okay. End log."

Dana sighed as she signed off. She had made more of these logs than anyone else. She had watched a few of them back recently from when she first arrived at the station, when she was still excited about being out this far into space. The novelty had worn off quickly and now she hated being here. If it weren't for the six figure salary waiting for her when she got home she would have found it all very depressing. She tied her shoulder length red hair into a ponytail and looked at herself in the mirror. She didn't always recognise herself anymore. While she would never have said it out loud she had always thought she was quite attractive but now she wondered if the last two years had taken their toll on her looks. Simon hit on her most days, as annoying as he could be it was still flattering and other than when they had got very drunk on colonial day last year she never indulged him in his urges. He had taken the hint quite quickly that that night had been a one off and there would be no repeat performance.

Hydra sat reading through the reports on the area around them. To most people they would have been utter gibberish but she enjoyed reading about any random radiation spikes or passing by comments.

"Delta how accurate is this about a comet shower in three days?" Hydra asked.

"100%," came the reply, "They will be visible and should be very visually pleasing. The observation deck should prove an excellent place for you to watch them."

Hydra smiled to herself, it would be a nice way to end their tour. She would suggest to the others at lunchtime that they should all watch the shower together. She could hear the gunshots from the game being played at Simon's console.

"You have become quite adept at killing Cylon centurions on your game." Delta said to Simon.

"Only on the easy setting," Simon replied, "Delta are you anyway related to Cylons?"

"No Simon I am not. The Cylons were created by Graystone Industries I come from a subsidiary company from the Vergis Corporation. My internal systems are in no way related."

Dash Cole walked along the long work platform that overlooked the bin. The bin was where all the mined minerals were stored ready to be taken to refineries back on the colonies. The massive bin stored nearly 5 million tons before it was full. Every three months giant container ships would come by and empty it. This was Dash's third rotation in a row, he had done six years straight and now was finally getting ready to head home. He had no family to speak of back on the colonies and a history filled with crime and short stops in prison. After he had last been released from jail he had worked a job at one of the tylium refinery plants on Virgon, working his way up from the bottom till he could be accepted for this position on Delta Seven. Now he had managed to spend eleven years escaping his past he was going to go home take every cubit he had earned over the last six years and hadn't been able to spend and live the easy life for the rest of his life. Every team he had worked with until this one had made sly digs at him about his past, he had never spoken of it with them but they all knew anyway. This team had never even mentioned it. He had only told them when they had started and were getting to know each other and it had never been brought up since. He counted them as the only real friends he had ever had and decided that when it was time to leave he would go with them. Since he had gone straight he had become a huge fan of pyramid and had every televised game sent to him every week of the season for the whole six years he had been here. He had one game left to watch before he went back to the colonies and everyone had agreed to watch it with him on one of the last nights. He always watched the game with Simon and Kal but now the others had agreed too. Jessie had always avoided them but had never said why to the rest of the crew, they had speculated that she was in some way related to the C Bucks captain Sam Anders but no one had ever had enough courage to ask her, it was something he intended to bring up. As Dash sent the last of the baskets back out to collect the mined tylium and bring it back he turned and began the long walk back to the airlock that would lead him back inside. The first thing Dash had begun to enjoy when he arrived from the base were the views he got being outside. The stars that twinkled in the sky, the views of the dead world the moon orbited every day amongst others were some of the most calming views he had ever seen. As he walked inside and the airlock pressurised he took of his helmet and began to take the space suit off. This part of the base was always so quiet, he was the only one who ever came down here. There were rumours that it was haunted but in his six years he hadn't seen anything that he could put down to being "supernatural". Nearly twelve years previously a group of Tauron pirates had broken into the base to steal the mined tylium, there had been an explosion and two members of the base and three of the pirates had been killed. If anything he found it very peaceful to be here. His work outside was over for the day, the next basket wouldn't be back for two days so all he needed to do was monitor them from the control centre. He hadn't seen anyone else for nearly three days because of the hours he had to work due to when the baskets would be coming in. He loved the quiet but also needed some company once in a while, so today was a good day.

By the time lunchtime came around Jason Davis was the last crewmember to join the table, he sat down to his spaghetti and meatballs and took a quick sip from his drink of water, "The shuttle bay is all ready for the relief crew to arrive." He said.

"Good, thanks Jason." Hydra replied.

Everyone was eating their food and Hydra decided she would bring up the topic of the comet shower.

"You know as it's our last few days together I was hoping you guys would be interested in watching a comet shower with me on the observation deck. It's quite a rare thing to happen out here and it should be quite spectacular as they pass between us and the planet." She said.

"Sounds good to me," Simon replied, "I've been sitting on a few bottles of ambrosia for our last week together, should be a good time to break them out."

Everyone agreed to come and watch it with her, she smiled as she turned her attention back to her food.

"Jessie I have something to ask you, I've been wondering for quite a while now and as we don't have much time left here I thought I'd bring it up now." Dash said.

"Sounds ominous." She replied with a laugh.

"This pyramid game we're all going to watch, what is it with you and the sport why do you hate it so much?" Dash asked.

This was a topic she often avoided talking about, "I don't hate pyramid." She replied.

"Then may I ask why you never come watch it with is? We've been thinking maybe it's something to do with your name, you related to Sam Anders?" He asked.

She sighed, swallowed her food and took a sip from her water before she replied, "If you must know then no I am not related to him," she sighed again, "He's my ex-husband."

No one knew whether or not she was being serious and they didn't know how to take it, "Seriously?" Dash asked.

"Yeah seriously." She replied going back to her food.

"Oh no no no, you can't just reveal something like that and then say nothing else?" Dash replied.

Everyone else's eyes were now on her, "When I was taking physical therapy to get used to my new arms he was there as well, he was recovering from a spinal injury. We got talking, got to know each other, started to see each other outside of the hospital and the next thing you know it's two months later and we're married."

"Holy frak Hydra, this is incredible." Dana replied.

"Things were crazy, he'd just been signed to the Buccaneers even though he was injured and he was the man who was going to bring success back to them. Late night parties, the A list lifestyle and ten months later both of us realised we didn't even really love each other. We both got on brilliantly, we were great friends and I cared for him a lot but we wanted very different things from life. He was on the face of every newspaper and magazine a lifestyle that most people dream of and all I wanted to do was go and get a job. My arms were working, the military wouldn't have me back all I wanted to do was find something new in my life. We decided that it would be best if we divorced and we stayed friends, next thing I knew I was a shuttle jockey and the rest is history."

"Holy shit! Sam fraking Anders." Dash said with a stupid laugh, "This is fraking awesome."

"Hydra hunny you and I are going to talk later!" she said with a very dirty laugh.

"How the frak did we not know about this? Why wasn't it across the media?" Simon asked.

"Because we kept it quiet, I always went to parties and events by myself and met up with him there. The coach had banned him from girlfriends while he was in rehab and to be honest we kind of liked sneaking around, it was fun."

Before Dash could say anything else Kal spoke, "Okay let's leave Hydra alone, you asked she told you."

"Thank you Kal."

No one argued once Kal said something like that, he was protective of everyone of the crew but Simon and Hydra the most.

"Hydra there is a message for you from Virgon for you." Delta said.

"Thank you," she replied standing up and picking up her drink, "I'll see you guys later."

As Hydra sat down at her station on her monitor read, "Received Message". She pressed the open button on the screen and a video of her boss Amanda Reece appeared in front of her.

"Hello Jessie. I hope everything on the station is still going well. We have received all your messages with the restock requests with them, all the supplies will be sent on the relief ship. The ship is scheduled for take off in two days time meaning by the time you receive this message they will be five days away, if there has been any problems with their launch more messages will follow. On a personal note I just wanted to say well done for all your hard work, your crew has mined more Tylium than any other team sent out there. You've done me proud and the company has decided to give you all a 100,000 cubit bonus each to repay your hard work. See you soon Jessie." The screen went blank and she smiled, everything was going as she had hoped, it was about time things went right. She would tell them before they watched the game later on, it would be a nice surprise for them, she was looking forward to the game, and she always liked watching the c bucks. None of the others knew but she had watched every game since she had been here. She knew how she reacted when she saw Sam on the TV and she knew that she wouldn't be able to hide it from them, now they knew, she wouldn't have to hide the smile she always had the first time the camera cut to him.

Dash walked from his quarters with disk of the game griped tightly in his hand, the other carried a bottle of Arilon cider. As he entered the rec room everyone was waiting for him, all with alcohol and snacks for during the game.

"About fraking time." Kal said as Dash slid the disk into the side of the massive vid screen.

"Hey I'm here at the time we all agreed on, it's not my fault if you were early or can't tell the time." Dash replied. He ducked as Kal threw a handful of popcorn at him.

"Before we start I have something I need to tell you guys," Hydra said, "The message from base said that everything was running on time so our relief should be here on time. If anything goes wrong we will probably get a message over the next couple of days. Also the boss wanted me to tell you guys that we have mined more Tylium than any other team who has worked here before. The company is so pleased with us all that we are all getting a bonus of 100,000 cubits."

Everyone was pleased with the news and it opened the night up well. The build up for the Caprica Buccaneers versus Picon Panthers began to play. Dana turned to Hydra, "So it must have been a nice divorce settlement." She said with a smile.

"Dana!" Hydra exclaimed, "It was all very amicable."

"I'm sure it was." She replied with a little laugh.

Everyone enjoyed the interviews and then the game. By the end of the game the Buccaneers had won by 4 points, the winning goal being scored by the captain Anders.

The next couple of days went without incident, most of the crew had taken the time to pack their gear ready for the move back home. There had been no more messages from home, no news was good news, at least that's what Hydra had been telling everyone. She lay on the ground of the observation deck. The comets were not expected to start for another hour but she had decided to go there early. She was very relaxed, moments later the other came in led by Simon who cradled his three bottles of ambrosia and six glasses in his arms.

"Time to get drunk people." Simon said putting the glasses and bottles onto a table. He poured everyone a glass and handed them around, "I just wanted to say that despite the fact that I can't wait to get home I'm really gonna miss you guys and even though we come from all over the colonies we need to stay in touch and meet up when we can."

"Here here." Kal said which everyone else echoed before they downed their drinks.

The comets were amazing. As they passed in between the small moon and the dead world they left streaks that bled into the night sky leaving a brief scar behind. They went on for hours and everyone stayed and watched everything. By the end of the evening everyone was very drunk and once again found themselves having a good time.

"Start log. Jessica Anders station commanding officer. We had the best time last night. The comets were beautiful, some of them came so close it almost felt like I could reach out and touch them. Tomorrow is the big day, fingers crossed that is. So far no more messages from home. I'm dreading having to tell the guys there has been a delay, the feeling here is so good I wouldn't want to be the one who had to spoil it. I never could have expected how well we would all be getting along by this stage. I expected there to be rows and people not talking to each other, I'm very glad that I was wrong. Not doing this everyday is something I'm going to have to get used to again. I never thought I would actually enjoy doing these logs when I first got here, they aren't even for anyone else to see. I'm going to have to make copies when I get home, I think they could make for some interesting viewing. Everyone seems to know what they're doing when they get home, Dash is going to move somewhere hot and enjoy the money. Dana is going to work at Caprica hospital etcetera etcetera. If I'm honest I have no idea whatsoever what I am going to do. I'd like to see Sam, see how he is but I can't see that happening. I suppose I'll go to see my mom, I know she is looking forward to me coming home. The Vergis Corporation have been on the horn again, they want to upgrade my arms. Apparently they have a new version of my arms that are even better than these. I don't think I'm interested, there are nothing wrong with these ones. They said they'd last the rest of my life. Anyway they told me at the time that if they ever had to replace them for any reason it would be extremely painful as my body has grown into them now. This log may be the most random one I've done so far, there is so much buzzing through my brain right now. I still have a job to do until I go tomorrow and maybe longer if they send a message, gods please do let them send a message." She sighed to herself, "I'm never doing anything like this again, and whatever I do it won't keep me away from my home for this amount of time. I miss my car, I miss my cat," she laughed, "Frak me my cat isn't going to even know who I am anymore. She's lived with my mom for so long now she probably won't even remember who I am. I think I'll leave her, it's the kinder thing to do, maybe I'll get a dog, and I've always wanted a golden Labrador. I may even buy myself a sports car."

Hydra found herself standing in front of the stations only raptor. She had only had reason to take it out once over the last two years. It had been strange, being the pilot of the craft was something she'd never done before. Yeah she was a pilot and had flown numerous other craft but never a raptor since she graduated flight school. She had been an ECO and a damn good one at that. She wasn't sure if she would ever get to see one again, the military wouldn't have her back, they had made that quite clear. She could always get a job flying them on medical runs though. The Battlestar Solaria had given this particular one to them and it had been an old one. A lot of work had gone into it to make it suitable for flying. She ran her hand over the canopy, flying in these things had been one of the better times she could remember.

Simon couldn't sleep, he had packed all his things and he was ready to go. He felt like he had when he was a kid the night before his birthday, excited because in the morning he would have lots of presents to open. He walked over to the camera on his desk and pressed record.

"Start log. Simon Given, station engineer. I can't sleep so I thought I'd record what could hopefully be the last of these logs that I ever have to make. I don't even know what to say. I was hoping having a chat to you guys would tire me out a little bit. The transport, if it is on time should be here by twelve hundred hours tomorrow. There are still eight hours before I have to get up so I should be able to drift off eventually. I wonder what the bunks will be like on this transport, the ones on the way out here weren't bad. But three weeks is going to be hard but I've been here for two years so it shouldn't be too bad. Why they feel the need to send a sublight out is beyond me, but once again we get paid all the way home, the clock doesn't stop ticking until we step foot onto that runway. Dana was telling me that if we don't get picked up on time then we get three times our daily wage until they get here so that's not too bad."

The following morning everyone was in the control centre on time, which is something that hadn't happened in a month, everything was running smoothly. There had been no messages from home so they were all confident that their ride home would be here soon.

"What time is it?" Simon asked.

"I thought you owned a watch?" Kal replied.

"I do but I packed it by accident."

"It's 11.56am."

They all sat in silence, each of them as nervous as each other.

"It is now twelve hundred hours." Delta said.

No one replied, all eyes turned to the dradis consol, nothing happened. Minutes came and went and still no one spoke. After an hour still nothing. Hydra stood up and stretched.

"I'm going for a coffee, anyone want one?" she asked. No one did want one, she left the room and the sinking feeling she had been keeping at bay hit her hard, "Frak." She whispered very quietly. The walked into the mess and poured herself the last of the coffee in the jar. She slowly walked back to the control room where people were still waiting in silence. She put the undrunk coffee cup onto her desk.

"Okay there's no point in waiting around here all day, we still have jobs to do guys. We'll all know the second the transport gets here, I've asked Delta to tell us over the con straight away."

Two weeks later and there was still no sign of their replacements or a message telling them what had happened. The mining facility had been stopped, the bin had been full for a week now. Tensions had frayed a little, no work meant they had to spend more time together and it appeared the hours they all worked alone had gone some way as to keep these tensions low. They all met in the mess for their lunch.

"I've been thinking about taking the raptor and making my way back to the shipping route that is a couple of days away from here. Make sure there hasn't been an accident or something." Hydra said.

"Do you think that could be what happened?" Simon asked.

"I have no idea. What worries me is the lack of a message. If they were delayed even by a day we should have had a message by now. Even if there had been an accident enough time has passed for them to tell us about it."

"What if we all get in the raptor and just go home in that?" Dash asked.

"Because it takes three weeks in a sublight, we can't carry enough fuel to make that journey, if we did it with making jumps then we would need even more fuel. I can poke my head as far as I can and see what I can see, hopefully I'll come across a larger ship and they will be able to help us out."

"What would we do in the eventuality of the transport coming while you're not here?" Kal asked.

"Then either wait for me to come back or I'll give you the coordinates I'm going to take including where I will be jumping too and from so you can come find me."

"It does sound like a plan." Kal said.

"One of us should go with you." Dana said.

"It's going to be cramped for one with the amount of time I'm going to be spending in it. Plus as far as I'm aware none of you know how to work any of the ships systems. No offence but it'll be quicker if I go myself."

"No offence taken." Kal replied to which everyone else agreed.

"I'll get the raptor fully fuelled and ready to go this afternoon." Hydra said, "Kal I'm going to leave you in charge till I get back. All I ask is that you try not to kill each other."

"Don't worry everyone will behave." Kal replied.

Hydra loaded the last of her supplies onto the raptor. She was all ready in her flight suit. Kal walked up to her.

"You sure you wanna do this on your own?" he asked.

Hydra nodded her head, "Yeah I'll be fine."

The days after Hydra left passed without incident. The crew were starting to interact with each other less and less.

"Start Log," Dana said as she switched the camera on, "This is the third day since Jessie left, she should be nearing the shipping lanes soon. It's my nieces birthday in three days," she sighed to herself, "Why haven't they sent us a message yet? I've been over the records and this has never happened before. Despite the record being nearly two months before a crews replacements came there were messages sent everyday with updates. I can't help but feel as though something is really wrong. Surely even if there had been an accident with the transport ship enough time has passed for them to let us know. What I'm about to say sounds insane but the thought has crossed my mind that something apocalyptic has happened. They can't just not be coming for us, so many people know we're here. At the same time I can't help but think that nothing is wrong and there is just some kind of communications problem." As she stopped talking she sighed before running her hands through her hair, "I think I'm going to go for a run."

Hydra came out of her last jump before she arrived at the shipping lanes. Despite all of the flying she had done over the past three days she had really enjoyed the journey. To fly through space once again in a raptor was something she hadn't expected again. She isolated all the colonial channels and began to broadcast a message, "This is Jessie Anders from the mining station Delta Seven is there anybody out there who can hear me?" after she broadcast the message she set it onto repeat. She had enough fuel to fly around for up to a couple of days before she had to head back to the station. She turned the raptor and began to fly into the lane. The back of the raptor had been transformed into a living area with a hammock pinned up, the cramped quarters had suited her fine, and it reminded her of being in the service. After she had been travelling for twenty minutes she found herself flying into wreckage. Something had happened, but what? The further she went the more wreckage she found. This was part of one of the busiest shipping lanes leading back into the colonies. Whatever had happened it wasn't located to one area. She kept getting traces of nuclear fallout as she passed through, "What the frak." She whispered to herself. These weren't military vessels, they were civilian and transports. The com unit started to buzz. She pressed the receive button.

"Hello is someone there?" a female voice said over the crackling con.

"Yes, my name is Jessie Anders from the mining station Delta Seven." She replied.

"We need help, please help us."

"Can you send me your co-ordinates?" Hydra asked.

"Yes, I'm sending them now."

They appeared on the screen in front of her.

"I'm on my way, I'll be there in three minutes."

"Thank the gods." Came the reply.

Hydra had a sense of urgency she hadn't felt in years. She turned her old raptor around and began to head to the survivors. Minutes later she saw the battered old transport. She could tell from the damage the ship had been hit by weapons fire but nothing nuclear, whatever happened these people were lucky. She saw the name Journey's End on printed onto the side.

"Journey's End this is Jessie Anders come in." she said.

"This is Journey's End." The woman's voice replied.

"Is it safe for me to dock with you?" Hydra asked.

"Yes airlock three is still useable." Came the reply.

"I'll be with you in a moment."

Hydra moved the raptor into position and docked with the battered ship. She moved to the back of the raptor and opened the hatch on the bottom of the raptor which led into Journey's End's airlock. The woman she had been speaking too who introduced herself as Kelly Winchester met her.

Hydra was taken into another part of the ship where some other people had been trying to make the best of the situation.

"Where did you come from?" Kelly asked.

"There is a deep space mining base about three days from here," Hydra replied, "We have been waiting for someone to come and take us home but there has been no word for weeks, our replacements are long overdue so I decided to come out and see if I could find anyone. What happened out here?"

"Cylons," an older man named John replied, "They have annihilated everyone. We ran from the colonies only to find ourselves stuck here."

"What? Cylons are you sure? Surely the fleet would have been able to fight them off."

"From what we've seen and heard some fraked up things have been going on. It seems that there must have been other humans working with them," Mary said, "There used to be a couple more ships with us, one of them said they saw our fleet just floating in space before they were attacked like someone had just turned off a switch."

"What happened to the other ships?" Hydra asked.

"The Cylons found us, they destroyed the other ships before they could react, we managed to jump away, just in time." John replied.

"How badly damaged is your ship?" Hydra asked.

"Our jump drive is gone," Mary replied, "We're more or less flying blind. Systems are beginning to close down."

"Okay if we tie the ships Nav systems into my raptors I can get us back to the mining base." Hydra replied.

As Hydra began to head back with the transport it all hit her hard and she burst into tears, everyone was dead, everyone she had ever loved or cared for. What were they going to do now? Maybe Kal and Dash could fix up the transport and they could try to make a run for it.

Onboard the transport the six "survivors" sat on the small bridge.

"Do you think she suspects?" Kelly asked.

"No six I don't." John aka 1 replied.

The six Cylons had fooled their human saviour.

"So what is our next step?" 5 asked.

"I think we should hold out with the humans for a while," 1 replied, "See if one of the surviving Battlestars comes this way. Both Pegasus and Orion have been seen in this area."

"Till then we should cause mistrust within the humans at this mine, have some fun turning them against each other." 3 said.

"If we can get picked up by one of the surviving human fleets then we could make things even more interesting," 1 said, "We start to sew the seeds of misdoubt about any other survivors. If we can convince these people that the only other surviving humans out there must have been working with the "Cylons" the we can start to turn human against human on a larger scale."

"Now that's a good idea." 6 said.

The raptor sat on autopilot as it led the battered transport closer to the mine. Hydra sat in the back in front of her camera.

"…I've had a while with my thoughts. The feeling of despair has subsided. The more I think of it we're not totally doomed. We have somewhere to live. We now have a transport that can be fixed, this raptor and a lot of fuel and supplies. We cannot be the only ones left we just can't there has to be more people out there. The colonies may not be as badly destroyed as the others made out, after all they did only hear reports over the wireless, they didn't see it with their own eyes, that gives me some hope. I should be back within radio range of the mine in the next hour or so, I don't know whether or not to tell them straight away or not? I probably should."

Kal was on his own in the gym. He had been on the treadmill for a while now. Being in the gym helped him to vent any pent up aggression that he felt build up.

"Kal you've just hit the ten mile mark." Delta said.

"Thank you Delta." He replied.

He had been keeping himself as busy as possible. He tried as hard as he could not to think of his girlfriend and son on Picon. Simon had been the only other crewmember he had really spoken too in the last twenty-four hours. He had never told Simon but he reminded him of his little brother who had died nearly fifteen years ago. As he moved over to the punch bags Delta spoke again, "Kal I'm receiving an incoming message from Hydra."

"Thank you Delta I'm heading to the control centre now." He said picking up his towel and jogging the short distance. As he reached the control centre he dropped down into his chair and hit the receive button. Hydra appeared in front of him, he knew immediately something was wrong.

"You okay?" Kal asked.

"Better than I had been." She replied, "I have news but I should probably tell you all together."

"Do you want me to get everyone?"

Hydra nodded her head in reply.

"It's bad isn't it?" he asked.

She nodded her head again, "Very."

Minutes later everyone sat in silence in the control room, "Okay I found some survivors." Hydra said.

"What do you mean survivors?" Dash asked.

"Okay the reason why we haven't heard anything or had our replacements arrive yet is because the Cylons attacked the colonies the day before they were supposed to pick us up. The people I found told me that they nuked the colonies."

"And are you sure they're telling the truth?" Simon asked.

Hydra nodded her head, "When I reached the shipping lanes they were scattered with wreckage from colonial ships, there were radiation signals from every direction."

"So what do we do?" Dana asked.

"The ship I'm bringing in it's damaged but it's fixable. Right now we have a place to lay low with food, supplies, fuel etcetera and no one really knows where we are. We fix up the ship and we head back towards the colonies, see if we can find anyone else." She replied.

"That's a good idea, me, Simon and Dash can fix anything that needs repairing." Kal said.

"I'm sorry it's not better news guys. We're going to have to stay put for a while longer. I'll be back in about seven hours, if you guys can get some quarters together for our guests that would be great."

Over the next few hours the base began to take shape for the new guests, it gave the crew something to focus on.

"Start log," Dana said, "I don't know what to do or to think. If this is true and the nuked the planets most people will be dead. My gods my brother and my niece. They live in Caprica City, there's no way they wouldn't nuke the capitol. They must be dead. What the frak am I going to do? They were the only family I have left," tears streamed down her face, "Jessie should be back soon," she wiped the tears from her face, "We're fraked."

A mixture of emotions filled Hydra as she saw Delta Seven. Sadness that this could now be her home filled her. Anger that the Cylons had probably killed everyone she had ever known or loved. Finally despair that these people were going to look to her for leadership and what they should do next. She had no idea whether or not she would be able to hold it together.

"Journey's end this is Hydra, please respond."

"Hydra this is Kelly."

"I'm going to give you control of your ship back. If you follow me I'll take you to the landing bay, it's going to be all hands on though."

"That's not a problem," Kelly replied, "We'll follow you in."

The old raptor led Journey's End towards the small moon and over the mining complex until they reached the landing bay. Both ships touched down filling the small bay.

The crew of Delta Seven and the group of survivors sat in the mess hall of the station.

"First things first I've instructed Delta to keep her eyes and ears to all the communications channels as well as dradis, she will let us know as soon as she hears or sees anything." Kal said.

"Sorry who is Delta?" John asked.

"The computer that monitors the base." Kal replied.

"So tell us what happened out there?" Dana asked, "How did you survive?"

"We had just left Aquaria before it happened. We were working on one of the platforms." John said.

"Which one?" Kal asked.

"Does it matter?" he replied.

"I've worked on nearly every rig on that planet and it'll go some way to me believing you." Kal replied.

"We were on the Brnal platform by the western volcanoes." John said, Kal nodded and didn't say any more, "We were heading back to Tauron where we would all head to our homes when the attack happened. The wireless was crazy with messages, Battlestars being switched off as they went into the attack. We found a group of civilian vessels that had escaped. We all decided to head out of the colonies and try and find somewhere to hide. The Cylons found us a few days ago pretty much where Hydra found us today, all the other ships were destroyed almost immediately. We were caught in one of the blasts and they must have thought we had been destroyed as well as they left."

"That's brutal." Dash said.

"We were the lucky ones I suppose." Simon aka 4 said.

"So were there no signs of anyone else?" Hydra asked.

"We heard brief chatter very rarely. One of the other ships captains said he saw a Battlestar jump away from the fight over Scorpia, we guessed that if they could survive and every other Battlestar was destroyed surely they must have been in league with the Cylons." Mary (3) said.

"That's insane," Kal said, "Why would anyone help those monsters to commit genocide?"

"This kind of talk isn't going to get us anywhere right now. We have to figure out what we're going to do." Hydra said.

"I've had a quick look over the transport and we can definitely fix it, anything we could want we can get from the station." Simon said, "Me, Kal and Dash should start work on it straight away."

"Okay that's good, any of you guys who have engineering experience should help," Hydra said, "Meanwhile we should start getting supplies ready, we have enough food and water to last a long time never mind fuel."

"Please excuse me but where the frak are we going to go?" Dana asked, "If the colonies have been nuked then we're pretty screwed."

"We go see if anyone else has survived and find somewhere else we can live. This station is fine for now but without supplies we can't live here indefinitely. Right now just get to work it'll help to keep our mind occupied." Hydra said.

Dana sat alone in the infirmary looking at a photo of her brother and niece, tears rolling down her face. She picked up the open bottle of whiskey on the desk next to her and drank a quarter of the bottle in one go before sitting it down. Her mind was a mess, she couldn't think straight, she knew the alcohol wouldn't help with that, she thought it might numb the pain a little, it had certainly helped to dull her senses. She had thought about the people she was here with, they had been good friends but really did she want to spend the rest of her life with them?

Delta flickered to life next to her, "Hello Dana, you appear to be upset, is there anything I can do to help?"

"No thank you Delta." Dana replied taking another long swig of the whiskey bottle.

"You have consumed a great deal of whiskey do you think you have had enough?" Delta asked.

"No Delta I don't." she said drinking even more. The sheer amount of alcohol she had consumed in such a short space of time was beginning to hit her hard.

"Should I go and get Hydra, I have noticed that when humans are upset it can sometimes help to speak to other humans."

"No Delta I don't want anyone, what the frak would we say to each other anyway? We're both feeling the same way, everyone we know, everyone we have ever met is dead."

"I'm sorry for your pain." Delta replied.

Dana laughed before finishing the bottle. She tried to stand up but fell to the floor still laughing to herself.

"Are you okay?" Delta asked.

Dana nodded, still laughing, "Yes, a machine, sorry for my pain. When it was machines who killed my people."

"I am in no way related to Cylons, I could in no way harm or condone harm upon a human." Delta replied.

"That's good because you're going to have to make sure no one hurts themselves now." She replied.

"What do you mean?" Delta replied.

Dana opened her desk draw, took out a small revolver, put it to the side of her head and pulled the trigger, killing herself instantly.

"All hands this is Delta, please report to the infirmary, Dana has shot herself." Delta said over the com.

Hydra ran at full pelt down the winding corridors, she had heard the shot run out. She stopped dead in her tracks and burst into tears when she looked into the infirmary. She walked over to her friend and checked for a pulse but couldn't find one.

"No no no no no." Hydra said.

The number 4 was the first into the room, "Let me see, I'm a medic I may be able to help."

Hydra got to her feet and looked on as 4 tried to help her. Kal was the next to enter the room, he immediately held Hydra in his big bear like arms. 4 looked up and shook his head, "I'm sorry, she's dead."

"Come on let's get out of here," Kal said, "Can you look after her?"

4 nodded in reply.

As they left the infirmary the others arrived. Kal shook his head, everyone remained silent, and the news hit them all like a sledgehammer. Kal took Hydra to the mess and poured her a glass of whiskey, "Drink this." He said handing it to her. She took it from him, her hands trembling as she took a sip.

"What the frak are we going to do?" she whispered to him.

"I don't know." He replied, "If we stick together we'll be okay." He said kissing her on the forehead.

"Please promise me you won't do anything stupid, you'll stay with me."

"I promise." He replied.

The other began to walk in.

"What the frak happened?" Dash asked as he walked in.

"I tried to ask her if she would let me help." Delta replied as the console fired to life, "She had drunk an entire bottle of whiskey in under ten minutes. She was clearly depressed, I am sorry I should have come to get one of you, it is my fault."

"It's not your fault." Hydra replied, "You didn't do this." She got to her feet and finished the rest of the glass, "All of you listen to me, if anyone else is planning on doing anything like this do it now, get it fraking over with cos I can't handle this again tomorrow or in a few days or weeks."

Everyone remained quiet. Hydra walked out of the room. The walk back to her quarters felt as though she was walking through water. She had been intimate with death before in the raptor crash all those years ago but she had never seen the body of a friend before. She had been out cold when her accident had happened so she never saw what had happened to the pilot. As she staggered into her quarters she went into the bathroom and threw up. She dragged herself to the sink and gargled with some water before looking at herself in the mirror. Her forehead was covered in Dana's blood, which she quickly washed off before she started to cry again. Hydra dragged herself to her bed and curled up in a ball sobbing. She woke up several hours later with a start. It took a few moments for everything to come back to her and she then realised she had been awoken by the buzzer on her door. Hydra rubbed her eyes and stretched, "Come in." she said.

The door slid open and 1 stood on the other side.

"Hello I thought I might offer my services, my full title is Brother John Cavil and I thought you may want to talk."

"They had a brother on a deep sea mining rig?" Hydra replied.

"Yes, everyone is entitled to a little religion if they want it, but that's not why I'm here, no religion, no preaching, I'm just here to listen and offer you any advice you may need."

"Well then you better come in." she replied, "Please sit, can I get you a drink?"

"Normally I would refuse," he said as he took a seat on the small sofa by her messy coffee table, "But after the incidents of the past day and weeks gone by I think I could use one."

"Leonis red okay?" she asked already pouring him a glass.

"Yes of course."

She handed him the glass and sat down in the chair opposite him. They both took a sip from the drink and sat in silence for a few moments.

"We're you and Dana close?" 1 asked.

Hydra nodded her head, "Yeah after two years I'm close with everyone on here, now it looks like this motley crew will be the last people I ever do see."

"It's in times like these that closeness helps people to come together."

"Or drives them apart. My ex husband used to sing this song, well I say song it was just the same few lines over and over again, something from his childhood and I can't get the first line he sang out of my head."

"Are they relevant to now?" 1 asked.

"I suppose so, there must be some kind of way out of here."

1 hoped his surprise wasn't evident when he heard those words come out of her mouth. That was the song one of the five had always sung.

"They certainly do apply," he said trying to keep his composure, "Tell me about your ex husband."

"Sam? What is there I can say about Sam Anders that the whole of the colonies doesn't already know, captain of the C Bucks, superstar of the colonies, most expensive player in Pyramid history."

His thoughts had been confirmed, this was truly the last thing he had expected, "That's how everyone else knew him, how did you know him?"

"Is that relevant to now?"

"Do you miss him?"

Hydra was a little taken aback, "Yeah I suppose I do. He was kind, a lot more intelligent than people gave him credit for. He always said he wanted to be part of something perfect, something that gave his life meaning. He always felt like an old soul to me. I can't believe I'm never going to see him again." She took another sip from her drink.

"We're all feeling those emotions, the loss of brothers and sisters, parents, friends, we have to take those feelings and turn them into something useful."

"Useful like what? You know all Dana wanted was to get home to see her brother and her baby niece. I'd like to turn it into revenge, those fraking Cylons killed her when they dropped those bombs. They killed her will to live."

"And how's yours?"

"My what?"

"Will to live?"

Hydra thought for a few moments, "Strong."

"Good because those people look up to you. As hard as this may sound you should be strong for them."

"You said before about people who survived must have been working with the Cylons, surely you don't believe that?"

"I understand how you all survived, you're out here in the middle of nowhere, and the Cylons probably didn't even know you were here, but how does one Battlestar escape from all the destruction of Scorpia without help. As hard as it is to think about it does make some kind of sense."

"Then what do we do, how do we know who to trust if we find anyone else?"

"Should we find any kind of salvation we all stick together, how ever friendly people may seem at first any trickery or lies will become apparent."

Two weeks later and Journey's End was nearly ready for launch. Kal walked out of the small transport ships engine room happy that everything in there was ready. While fixing the little ship up he had actually become quite fond of it. It really was nothing special, it had seen much better days, but it had character. It was big enough for them all to live comfortably, at least for a while. He had also managed to fit a docking clamp onto the airlock so that their raptor could be attached. Everyone had done their bit since Dana had taken her own life, Hydra had stepped up and turned into a proper leader and he had made sure she had his support. He still found himself unsure about the new comers. There was something about John in particular, he couldn't quite put his finger on it but he didn't quite trust him. As he walked onto the small bridge he stopped and turned around. Simon and Kelly had become quite intimate over the last week and he had just walked in on them. He was happy his friend had found someone, but he was getting sick of walking in on them all over the ship and the station.

"Simon how many times? There is a time and a place." Kal said as he turned away from them. Both of them grabbed their clothes and quickly got themselves dressed.

"Sorry Kal, we got caught up in the moment." Simon said.

"Was that the moment you were supposed to be checking the power converters?" Kal replied.

"Checked and working big buddy, it's all good."

As Kelly made a swift exit Kal stepped towards his friend and spoke quietly, "Listen pull you head out of your pants when you're supposed to be working okay."

Simon nodded.

"We have unidentified contacts appeared on dradis." Delta said over the com.

Hydra dropped into her seat in the control centre and looked at the monitor in front of her. On the dradis three large blips had appeared in red, with "Unknown Contact" written beneath them.

"Delta do you have any idea what these contacts are?" Hydra asked.

"No I do not. They do not have Colonial transponders."

"So the Cylons could have found us?" she said to herself.

"That is likely. Whatever they are they are launching smaller contacts." Delta said.

"Everyone head to the transport. We are being approached by unknown contacts, it's time to get out of here." She said. As she finished speaking she turned to another monitor, "Delta open me a channel."

"Channel open Hydra." Came the reply.

"Unidentified contacts this is Jessie Anders from the mining base Delta Seven, we are unarmed. Please respond."

She was met by silence. Kal came through, "Come on we should be getting out of here." He said.

"Delta if you get a response let me know."

"Of course Hydra."

She got to her feet and headed over to the door, "And Delta."

"Yes Hydra."

"Thanks for keeping us alive this last couple of years." She said.

"You are very welcome."

Simon sat on the small bridge of the transport looking out trying to make out the contacts in the distance.

"Bridge this is Dash the Raptor is in place." Dash said over the com.

"That's great, the others are still on their way." Simon replied.

Hydra and Kal moved through the bases long winding corridors on the way to the shuttle bay. They hadn't seen anyone else, the other must be onboard or nearly there Hydra thought to herself.

"Jessie hang on a minute." Kal said stopping by one of the equipment rooms.

"Kal we haven't got time." Hydra replied.

"This will be worth it." He replied walking inside.

Inside the room was full of tools and repair equipment.

"What are you looking for?" Hydra asked.

"These." Kal replied picking up one of the high powered bolt guns, "We use these to bolt thick metal together, if we end up face to face with any bad guys, I want to be able to fight back." He said handing her one of the large guns. He picked up a large back full of extra bolts before picking up his new weapon. As they began to pick up the pace again Delta came over the com.

"Hydra it would appear that the contacts are cylon. They have launched what I can only assume are troop carriers and are trying to get in through airlocks 4 through 10."

"Can you hold them off?" Hydra replied.

"I have locked out the airlock controls but I do not know if that will stop them. There is something else you should know they are trying to take over my systems." Delta replied.

"Can you stop them?" Kal asked.

"So far so good Kal, luckily their technology appears different to mine so I should be able to stop them."

As Delta finished speaking there was an explosion behind them, which knocked both Hydra and Kal to the ground.

"Cylon centurions have entered the base at airlock five, I suggest you both run." Delta said, "I will try and slow them down."

"Come on." Kal said picking up Hydra, "If we can get to frame seven I've planted a little surprise in case this happened."

Both people began to run as fast as they could. Airlock 5 wasn't far from them at all.

Everyone except for Kal and Hydra were now onboard Journey's End.

"How long are they going to take?" John said as he walked onto the bridge, "We should be leaving."

"No, either we leave together or we don't leave at all." Simon replied.

John looked at the young human with surprise, "And who put you in charge?" he asked.

Simon stood up from the helm, "Well as I just locked out the helm control I did and it's staying locked until Hydra and Kal get here." He replied.

"Simon are you sure this is a good idea?" Kelly asked.

"NO ONE LEAVES TILL THEY GET HERE." Hey yelled, "We already lost Dana, I will not leave them to the Cylons."

Frame seven was in sight. Kal felt the bullet before he heard it. It hit him in the shoulder and sent the large man crashing to the ground. Hydra turned and saw a centurion behind them. It was massive, unlike any other Cylon she had seen in a museum or history books. She fired one of the high power bolts hitting the cylon in the head, the power of the bolt tore the metal in two. Hydra turned and dragged Kal to his feet, much like he had done for her.

"Thanks." He said.

"Come on." She replied.

As they passed through the door to frame seven Kal sealed it behind them. He looked through the small window to see more centurions rushing towards them. He took out a small switch device from his pocket and smiled as he pressed the button. The explosions were massive, but frame seven protected them and began to act as the disaster area it had been designed for.

"Lets see those frakers chase us now." He said with a chuckle.

"Delta how far away are Hydra and Kal?" Dash asked.

"Less than fifty metres from the ship." Delta replied, "However I must warn you there are Cylons trying to get into the hanger bay from the outside."

"Frak." Simon replied, "Delta is there anything at all you can do?"

"Not without endangering you." Delta replied.

"We're onboard," Hydra's voice said from over the com, "Get the ship started I'm on my way to the bridge."

Simon smiled as he unlocked the systems and brought the engines online. Minutes later Hydra and Kal appeared on the bridge.

"We're ready to go." Simon said.

"Sorry it took so long we ran into company." Hydra replied.

"Are you okay?" Cylon Simon asked Kal.

"Yeah one of the frakers shot me in the shoulder." He replied.

"Let me take a look at that for you."

The large hanger doors began to open and Journey's End began to move into space.

"Simon punch in those jump coordinates I gave you." Hydra ordered.

As they left the battered station the sky was full of enemy contacts which all turned in the direction of the small ship.

"How are we coming with the jump?" Hydra asked.

"Hang on, the nav computer isn't taking the coordinates." Simon replied.

"Frak." Hydra replied.

Through the windows of the bridge everyone could see raiders heading towards them, closing in on their kill. As they reached their target the raiders began to explode. Everyone looked confused until seconds later colonial vipers flew past.

"Colonial transport this is Commander Heinrick Johannsen of the Battlestar Orion please respond." The voice came over the com.

"Battlestar Orion this is Jessie Anders of the mining station Delta Seven are we pleased to see you." She replied.

"Our port landing bay has been cleared for you to land, our vipers will escort you." He replied.

"Thank you Commander." She replied.

As they flew they watched as the massive Battlestar engaged the multiple Cylon base ships causing them massive damage.

"We escape from the fire and go into the lions den." John said as he watched.

"They just saved us." Dash replied.

"So it would appear, all I ask is that everyone be vigilant, these people could still be our enemy."


	15. Echoes From The Past

Archangel ran as fast as he could through the crowded corridors of the Starburst. He tightly gripped one of his side arms in his hand. He wasn't going to let this killer get away, he had to know why they had done what they had done.

"MAKE A FRAKING HOLE!" He yelled as he ran. The people in front of him looked startled and moved as quickly as they could out of the young pilots way. Whoever he was chasing they were fast. As Archangel turned into the next corridor he ran a few metres before stopping dead in his tracks. He raised his weapon and held it tightly in both hands.

"TURN AROUND." He yelled, "I WON'T TELL YOU AGAIN!" Archangel's face dropped and he slowly began to lower his weapon, "You." He said quietly.

12 HOURS EARLIER

Commander Vanessa Garrett walked through the corridors of her ship with purpose. She and her crew had successfully stopped the NCO on the planet a few days ago, she felt confident that if they could end that with such small casualties then they could face any problem that came their way. Things hadn't been quiet though, bodies had begun turning up across the fleet. They had all been so brutally murdered that she knew they had to find whoever was doing it. She smiled and said hello to the crewmembers she passed. She walked with her head held high. She had learned many things from Johannsen in the small time she had served under him, one of the most important she felt was to treat her crew, no matter what their rank with respect. This was something while serving aboard Pegasus had been lacking. She was beginning to find her tough side as well. The day before she had dealt with a very angry captain of the Liner Persephone when he had become abusive towards her. However Colonel Rae was more than making up for her softer side with the crew by keeping them in line. As she walked into sickbay the marines on guard stood to attention and saluted her.

"Please gentlemen at ease." She said as she passed them.

Dr Hammond and Archangel stood waiting for her. Archangel gave her a little smile and a wink, she smiled back at him.

"So we have another one?" Garrett asked.

"We have another two." Hammond replied.

"How many is that so far?" Garrett asked.

"Six."

"However want to hear something really interesting? These two are Cylons." Archangel said.

"What?" Garrett replied, that she hadn't expected, "Are you sure?"

"Oh yeah. This one I've killed more of than any other. I think they called him Doral I even heard them call him 5. This one I saw a couple of copies of on Sagitarron they called him 2." Archangel replied.

"What if the rest of these people are Cylons? Could someone have found out and be searching any of them out in our fleet?" Hammond said.

"That would certainly put an interesting spin on things." Garrett replied.

"Yeah do we stop them or let them carry on." Archangel said.

"We have to find out who is doing this," Garrett said, "Where did these bodies come from?"

"The Starburst." Hammond replied.

"Okay Major I want you to head over there. Take a look at where they found the bodies, see if you can find anything on any of the camera footage."

"Yes ma'am, I'll instruct Bojay to take over till I get back."

"Let me know as soon as you find anything at all." Garrett said.

"Of course." He replied.

Archangel walked out of the room, Garrett turned to Hammond, "Have you examined these bodies for anything, different?"

"Inside they're the same as the Cylon who killed the Commander. As far as I can tell they are no different from humans."

"There has to be a way of telling them apart." Garrett said.

"Trust me Commander I've tested everything I can think of."

"I know that wasn't a slight against your work doctor, I was just thinking out loud. If we could test them then we could find every Cylon in our fleet. Did the kid genius Archangel rescued on Sagitarron ever come over to see what he could find?"

"No he didn't. I've tried to get him to come over but there is always something else that is taking up his time."

"I'll have a word with him, see what I can do."

….

Archangel was beginning to get tired of the Starburst. It seemed to be a Mecca for death and destruction. If there were somewhere else his friends who lived there could move to he would suggest it. As he flew a raptor through the fleet he looked at all the ships he was passing by. Ranging from the very small to the massive, carrying the last hope for their doomed race.

"Starburst this is Major Hunter requesting permission to dock."

Moments later a voice replied over the COM, "Major this is Starburst you are cleared for landing in our main hanger. The Captain will meet you when you land."

"Thank you Starburst." He replied as he guided the small craft towards the hanger bay. As the Raptor flew into the bay it was full of shuttles and transports from lots of the other ships in the fleet. Archangel touched down and powered down. As the back hatch opened he saw Edward Jonas, captain of the Starburst waiting for him. The tall middle-aged man smiled and shook his hand. The man looked a lot older than the last time he had seen him, events on his ship and in general were beginning to take their toll on him.

"Thank you for coming Major." Jonas said.

"Have your men found anything yet?" Archangel replied as they walked.

"My XO has found someone on video surveillance but it's difficult to make anything out."

"Can I see?"

"Of course, we'll head to the bridge."

….

The bridge on the Starburst was bustling with life. Like the rest of the ship even this was luxurious, well compared to the CIC of Orion anyway. The crew all sat at their posts in comfortable chairs and even they were waited on by people brining them food and drink when they wanted it. Archangel though this was no way for a crew to work and gave a little laugh to himself. The front of the bridge was a large window looking out into space. He could see other ships in the fleet with Orion leading the way. They walked over to Elizabeth Price, the ships Executive Officer.

"Miss Price this is Major Hunter." Jonas said. They briefly exchanged pleasantries.

She began to play the security footage from the corridor outside the quarters. Moments later a figure appeared from the room and she paused it.

"Whoever it is has covered their face well." Elizabeth said.

"It looks like a woman." Archangel said.

"This must be the killer." Jonas said.

"Well considering she's holding the murder weapon I would say so." Archangel replied.

"Murder weapon?" Jonas and Elizabeth both said together. Archangel pointed to the knife the woman on the screen was carrying.

….

The science vessel Columbus was full of the most state of the art equipment and labs. Since the attack they had been working on ways to help the fleet survive. Commander Garrett had been here a couple of times before and only for a flying visit. As she walked into Mike's lab she saw a large amount of completed EMP warheads along with more being made. Mike's small staff busied themselves with their work and hadn't even noticed her walk in. She saw Mike working on a circuit board and walked over to him.

"Good afternoon Mr Campbell." Garrett said.

He looked up from his work and was surprised to see her standing in front of him.

"Commander I didn't know you were coming." He said.

"Well Dr Hammond has been trying to get in touch with you for some time so I thought I'd drop in and see how you were going."

"Apologies commander things have been very busy getting these warheads together." He replied.

"Do you think you can spare some time to help her try to distinguish between human and cylon?"

"Honestly commander I'm not sure I have the time at the moment." He replied.

"While I agree this work is important and I am happy with the sixty warheads you have delivered so far surely your staff is capable of continuing in your short absence." Garrett replied with a smile.

"I'm sure they could but I'm sorry I need to remain here."

"I'm not sure you're understanding me, I'm afraid I must insist that you come with me and leave your staff to continue your work."

Mike prepared to argue and looked up at the young commander. He could tell by the look on her face that she was not joking and he realised that to argue would be futile.

"Please commander let me collect some of my things." He replied.

….

Captain Jonas led Archangel to where they had found the last body. The quarters of the Cylon were sparse. Blood was spattered all over the bed and the wall behind it.

"My gods whoever did this has some anger issues." Jonas said.

"Or they found out they were killing a cylon." Archangel replied, "Have your men looked through his belongings?"

"No major we left everything as it was for you to look through." Jonas replied.

There wasn't much for Archangel to look through. He opened the small wardrobe, it didn't take him long to look through the few items of clothing the Cylon had, there was nothing else in there. He opened the blood-splattered cabinet next to the bed and took out the few pieces of paper in there.

"Well I've seen this before." Archangel said looking at the NCO leaflet. He handed it to Jonas.

"Fraking NCO, they've caused hell so far, I'm hoping you guys manage to take them down." Jonas replied.

"One thing at a time," he replied, "Now this is interesting. Have you heard about the Plan."

"What plan?" Jonas asked.

"I have no idea but I do recognise the face on the front, he's a Cylon." Jonas took the leaflet and looked at it.

"If he's a Cylon why would he broadcast himself?"

"It could be a call to other Cylons in the fleet, calling them out of hiding. This was probably put together before we found out about them." Archangel replied.

The last piece of paper was a flyer for one of the bars on the Starburst, a triad tournament.

"Where is this?" Archangel asked.

"F deck section seven."

"Looks like I'm going to a triad tournament." Archangel said with a smile. He turned and headed for the door.

"Wait." Jonas said, "You need to be careful down there."

"Why?" Archangel replied.

"The people who have taken charge down there, well lets just say they don't follow my or your orders."

"And why haven't you mentioned this before?"

"Because they told me if I did they would kill my son. They're thugs, criminals. We stay out of their business and they don't cause me any problems. Can I talk you out of going there or at least get some back up."

"Trust me I'll be fine." Archangel replied, "Get on the horn to Orion and tell them everything we've found out, tell them where I am going but you can leave out the part you told me if you like."

….

When Archangel reached his destination it almost felt like he was on a different ship. The bar had been transformed from a wine bar into something that resembled a strip club called Delphi. The door was flanked by two giant bouncers who moved into his way.

"I'd like to get in there please." He said.

"Move on flyboy this place ain't for the likes of you." One of the bouncers replied.

"I'm not asking you to move gentlemen I'm telling you." Archangel replied with a smile.

"We don't take orders from you," the bouncer said again, "Frak off." He reached for Archangel who in one move grabbed the giant mans arm and twisted it behind his back breaking it with a sickening crack. He fell to his knees in agony as Archangel backhanded him knocking him out cold. As the other bouncer moved towards him Archangel drew one of his side arms.

"Back off cupcake." Archangel said.

The bouncer held up his hand, "Head straight in we won't bother you."

"Thank you." Archangel replied holstering his weapon. As he walked in people were looking at him as they had seen what had happened outside. He walked to the bar, the burley barman just looked at him.

"I'm hoping you can tell me if you've seen this man?" Archangel said showing him a picture of Doral. The barman looked at it and then looked back down at the glass he was polishing, "Excuse me I'm being polite, I take it you saw what happened to your door men?"

"You know you really didn't have to do that to my doormen." A man said from behind him.

Archangel turned and saw a very smartly dressed man standing in front of him, "Well they weren't going to let me in, so I had to persuade them." Archangel said.

"I'm Curtis Turner and this is my bar." He said holding out his hand. Archangel shook it.

"Major Mark Hunter." He replied.

"I know who you are Archangel." Curtis replied.

"That's good because I know who you are as well and the kind of things you used to get up to on Scorpia."

Curtis laughed, the young pilot amused him, "I like you Major, please come sit with me so we can talk."

Archangel followed him to the back of the bar and sat with him in a booth.

"Can I see the photograph?" Curtis asked.

Archangel handed it over to him. Curtis looked at it for a few moments, "I know this man, Aaron Doral, he joined the Triad tournament we had last week. He was knocked out in the first round. May I ask why you're looking for him?"

"I already have him, he's dead."

"So I take it you're looking for who killed him?"

"That's why I'm here. Do you know if anyone had a problem with him?"

"As far as I know he kept himself to himself. He was talking to a woman, I remember because she was fine, Kelly I think they called her."

"Is she in here now?" Archangel asked.

"No, haven't seen her since yesterday. Don't know where she lives, she just comes in sometimes."

"Thank you for your help, I'll come back again later." He said standing up.

"I'll tell the guys on the door to let you in if you do." Curtis replied.

….

Simon Given had just finished his shift on one of the mining vessels. Since leaving Delta Seven he had begun working on the mining vessel Explorer processing the ore they were using to make new fighters. He loved living on the Starburst, he and Kelly had managed to get some quarters together and he had never been happier. As he reached their quarters he saw that the door was open ajar. He walked inside and saw Kelly lying in a pool of her own blood, clearly dead. He ran over to her and checked for a pulse, there was nothing. As tears rolled down his face he turned just in time to be knocked out by the unseen murderer. As the covered face murderer ran out of the room Archangel was nearly barrelled over by them. He looked into the quarters and saw the 6 laying dead in a pool of her own blood and the young man laying next to her. He unholstered one of his side arms and ran after the killer at full pelt. Whoever it was ran into a crowd of people that Archangel had to fight his way through.

"MAKE A FRAKING HOLE!" he yelled at the top of his voice.

The people began to move for the young pilot. As he rounded the next corner he could see the killer a few metres away from him. He raised his weapon.

"TURN AROUND." He yelled, "I WON'T TELL YOU AGAIN." As the killer turned around he couldn't believe his eyes, "You." He said slowly lowering his weapon.

"Hello Mark." Grace said as she stood in front of him.

"Grace." He said not sure whether another Cylon was playing a trick on him. Her hair was longer and other than that she looked like any other 6 but he just knew.

"I've missed you." She said.

"How do I know it's you?" he said.

She took a step closer to him and he raised his weapon again. She stopped and held up her hands.

"After you arrived at Caprica you went to your parents house at Oasis. That evening I saw you through the living room window as you slept on the sofa. I wanted to come in and talk to you but I didn't know how you would react."

They stood looking at each other for what seemed like an eternity. Some people behind them broke the silence. Archangel grabbed her hand, "Where have you been living?"

"Follow me." She replied.

For the entire walk neither of them spoke. Archangel was full of conflicting emotions. He had longed to see her for all these months, now he didn't know what to do. All the feelings he had for her came surging back to the surface, the anger he felt for Danny's death was there but not as strong as the love he felt for her. She led him into her quarters and shut the door behind them. As she turned Archangels grabbed her and kissed her, he had wanted to do that so much.

"Did you kill Danny?" Archangel asked outright.

Grace nodded her head, "Yes I did." She replied.

"Why?" he asked.

"I had no choice, they made me decide between Skeeter and Danny. If I had refused they would have killed all of you. They would have just located us and dropped another nuke right on top of us." She replied.

"Why did you choose Danny?"

"It was a horrible choice but it was the better of two evils, you needed Skeeter to stay alive."

Archangel let out a sign and sat on the bed in the room.

"I've turned my back on them, I'm a traitor to my own people. That's why I've been going through the fleet killing all the Cylons I could find. Once I had done that I was going to hand myself in with the proof of what I've done to show I'm loyal to you. I can show your doctor how to identify cylon from human. I can't go back to my people. At worst they'll kill me with no resurrection ship in range at best they'll box me. I have a lot to offer this fleet."

"I need to know, do you really love me or was it all part of the trick?" Archangel asked.

"At first I didn't want to be assigned to you. I had no interest of interacting with humans. My time with you changed me, when I told you I loved you I was telling the truth. Being apart from you has been the hardest thing I've ever had to do."

"If I take you back to Orion and the Commander lets you stay, Skeeter can never know what happened to Danny."

This surprised Grace, "Why?"

"Because he'll kill you." Archangel replied.

Archangel stood up and kissed her again. The moment was broken by the door being bashed in. Two large men rushed in followed by Curtis Turner. Archangel drew both of his weapons and stood in front of Grace. The two men stopped dead in their tracks, as they both reached for their own weapons Archangel shot them both in the head before turning his weapon towards Curtis who had his own drawn.

"Major there's no need for us to kill each other." Curtis said.

"Then put down your weapon and back the frak up." Archangel replied.

"That's not going to happen, clearly if you knew me you'd know there is only one of us walking out of here."

"You're Mr Scorpia." Grace replied.

"How you knew that I don't know cylon but I look forward to finding out. Major here are the only options, you walk away and let me take the cylon or I kill you and I take her anyway. My men are on the way and we both know you don't have the balls to…."

Before he could finish speaking Archangel put a bullet between his eyes, "They always think they know me." He said to himself. "If you have any belongings you want to take, get them together we're getting out of here now."

Grace grabbed a rucksack and took Archangel's hand. With one of his side arms in his other hand Archangel began to lead them towards the hanger bay. As they rounded one of the corners another one of Curtis' goons stood waiting for them. He raised his gun but didn't get the chance to fire it, Archangel fired a single shot once again between the mans eyes. They continued to walk in silence. As they walked past another corridor more gunfire erupted towards them. Archangel pulled Grace back behind the wall. People screamed at the gunfire. Grace had seen him go into this mode before, there was now only one thing on his mind, killing anyone and everyone that got into his way. The assassin in him had taken over now. He drew his other side arm dropped to the ground and slid out firing both weapons, killing both men who had been shooting at them. He holstered the other weapon and took hold of Grace's hand again and they continued to the hanger.

"Do you want me to take one of your guns?" Grace asked.

"No, having you kill Cylons is one thing, I don't think it would be good for your cause to kill a human, even if they are these guys."

As they walked into the final corridor there was one more man waiting for them, once again he didn't see it coming and within seconds his brains were spread across the door he guarded. As the door to the hanger opened Archangel quickly checked to make sure there was no one else waiting for them before they both ran over to the waiting raptor. Moments later the side hatch opened and they both went inside. Grace sat next to Archangel in the cockpit. He picked up his earpiece as he powered the raptor to life.

"Starburst this is Archangel I need clearance for immediate take off." He said over the con.

"Archangel this is Starburst you are clear for immediate take off." Came the reply.

"I need you to send people to cabins 357 and 379 there are bodies in both. I need you to hold onto them till I can send someone back for them."

"Archangel, Starburst we will dispatch someone immediately."

Archangel flew the raptor into space and headed to Orion as quickly as he could.

"Orion this is Archangel."

"Archangel, Orion everything okay?" Lt Taylor replied over the con.

"I need a meeting with Commander Garrett in her quarters the moment I touch down and I am en route now."

"The commander is in a meeting with the president." Taylor replied.

"Are they on Orion?"

"Yes they are."

"Good they're both going to want to hear this. Lieutenant this is very urgent."

"No problem Archangel I'll get in touch with them now."

There was silence for a few moments before Archangel spoke again.

"Was he one of the NCO?" Archangel asked.

Grace nodded, "Yes. While I've been looking for the Cylons in the fleet I came across him. There are twelve of them who run the NCO. Mr Caprica who broadcast across the fleet seems to be in overall control."

"Do you know who he is?" Archangel asked.

"No." she replied.

"I missed you too you know." He said to her, "I nearly went out of my mind when I thought you were dead. If it wasn't for Ramok I was about to end it all."

Tears ran down Grace's face as he spoke.

"When that 3 told me you were a Cylon I nearly lost my mind all over again. She said she had no idea where you were, I prayed you were in the fleet. Even though she told me you killed Danny, all I wanted to do was see you again."

Grace reached over and held Archangel's hand.

As Archangel's Raptor came to a stop in the hanger he turned to Grace.

"I don't know how this is going to go, but I need you to know I'm on your side." He said.

She nodded her head before he leaned in and kissed her before opening the side hatch. He took hold of Grace's hand and they both walked out of the back. Bojay walked up to them.

"I need to talk to you about the new recruits." He said.

"Not now, I'll come find you later." He said as they continued to walk.

As Archangel and Grace began to walk up one of the ladders that would lead them off the flight deck Bojay walked over to Bria.

"Now I'd like to know who that is with Archangel." He said.

Bria turned to look, "Oh my gods." She said as she saw her, "That's Grace."

"What the frak, I thought she was dead." Realisation dawned across Bojay's face, "Then that means."

"Oh yeah, she's a Cylon." Bria replied.

It didn't take Archangel and Grace long to get to the commander's quarters. The guards let them in without saying a word. The commander and the president sat inside.

"Sorry to interrupt your meeting but there is someone I need you both to meet. Commander Garret, President Vents this is Grace." He said.

"It's an honour to meet you both." Grace said.

Both the commander and the president knew what this meant, "Sit down, both of you." Garrett said.

"She has some things to tell you." Archangel said.

"The bodies you've been finding in the fleet, if you hadn't already guessed, they're all Cylon. I took it upon myself to find as many of the Cylons who are living in your fleet and kill them all."

"Why kill your own people?" the president asked.

"Two reasons, first I turned my back on them back on Caprica, I am a traitor to my people. Second in an attempt to show my loyalty to you and this fleet."

There was silence for a few moments, "Loyalty?" Garrett said.

"I don't, I can't go back to my people. I am prepared to share any information with you that I can to help you in the war with them. I have full medical knowledge, I can show your doctors how to tell the difference between human and cylon."

"And in return you want what?" Vents asked.

"I want to remain here on Orion, I want you to give me a chance to prove I'm loyal to you." Grace replied.

"Are there any other Cylons left in our fleet?" Garrett asked.

"At least one. We call him 1. He arrived with other Cylons when you rescued the crew of Delta Seven." Grace replied.

"Was he one of the miners who worked there?" Vents asked.

"No he was one of the crew of the Journey's End who were posing as survivors."

"Before we could get off the station a man called Curtis Turner came in with his men and tried to take Grace. Before I blew his brains out Grace identified him as Mr Scorpia, one of the twelve from the NCO. We should be getting a call from Starburst shortly. I asked them to keep an eye on the bodies till we could get them sent over here." Archangel said.

"Can you identify any other members of the NCO?" the president asked.

"No I can't but I've been hearing things about them. They're planning something in an attempt to take over the fleet. They're trying to get the public on side with them and turn all of you into the bad guys." Grace replied.

"Mr President I think we need to have a private conversation with Major Hunter." Garrett said.

"I agree."

"I'm going to get some marines to take you to the brig while we decide what to do about all this." Garrett said.

"Of course." Grace replied.

"Major please ask the marines on the door to come in." Garrett asked.

Archangel walked to the door, "Guys can you come in here?"

The two marines walked into the quarters.

"Corporal I'd like you to take this woman to the brig please. When you get there please ask Sergeant Vannick to stand guard till we come down."

"Yes ma'am." The corporal replied.

"Thank you commander." Grace said before walking out of the room. As the door shut Garrett turned to Archangel.

"Did you know about this?" she asked.

"That she was in the fleet?" he replied.

"About all of it." Garrett asked back.

"The cylon who killed the commander told me that Grace was a cylon and that she had turned her back on her people and they now viewed her as a traitor." He replied.

"Can I ask why you didn't tell us about this?" the president asked.

"With all due respect tell you about what exactly? I didn't even know if I believed her. The Cylons frak with our heads, that's what they do, that's what I thought she was doing. And no I didn't know she was in the fleet, I certainly didn't know it was her killing off all the Cylons." Archangel said.

"My instincts tell me to just throw her out of an airlock." The president said.

"I beg you not to do that." Archangel replied.

"Commander what do you think about all this?" the president asked.

"I believe her."

Both the president and Archangel seemed a little taken aback.

"I recognised her as soon as you walked in with her. I was in command of the mission that brought her to Orion. I asked the commander if I could go down to Caprica to lead the SAR mission. After we found the group of survivors she was with we were cut off from the raptors by a lot of centurions. They managed to get past the defensive perimeter we set up, while I was fighting off a cylon I hadn't noticed another that was virtually right on top of me. Grace took it out saving my life. If she hadn't done that I would have been dead, her identity would still have been safe and when the raptors found us minutes later she would have got away to the fleet."

"She certainly saved my life on a number of occasions." Archangel said.

"I'm leaving this decision to you commander." The president said.

Garrett sighed, "She can stay alive for now. Her insight into the Cylons could prove invaluable."

"Thank you." Archangel replied.

"Major if she this is a trick, if she betrays us and puts our fleet in danger she dies and more to the point, you will be the one to pull the trigger, do you understand me?" Garrett said.

"Yes ma'am. If it's okay I would like to be the one to go and tell her."

"Of course." Garrett replied.

When Vannick walked into the brig he looked like he had seen a ghost.

"Oh my gods." He said.

"Hello Darius." Grace replied.

"Is it really you?" he asked.

Grace nodded her head in reply, "Yes it's really me, no tricks."

"You've been in the fleet all this time?"

"I was picked up shortly after you all arrived on Caprica. I've been passing time, waiting. I wanted to say thank you for keeping Archangel alive."

Vannick let out a chuckle, "Are we talking about the same Archangel, the guy who kept us alive." He sat down as he spoke.

"Well then thank you for having his back."

"He was never the same after he thought you had died," Vannick said, "I want you to know that if you're here to frak with him or betray us, I'll kill you."

"I wouldn't expect anything less. But I'm telling the truth and I have to say it's good to see you." She said with a smile.

"Even though you're a cylon, it's good to see you too. For what it's worth, you saved my life enough times that you didn't have to, you could have let me die so thank you and I'll give you the benefit of the doubt."

"Thank you." She said letting out a chuckle.

Moments later Archangel walked in, "Can you give us a minute?" he asked Vannick.

"Sure thing." He replied.

"Darius, I meant what I said, it's good to see you." Grace said.

"You too." Vannick replied.

When Vannick had shut the door behind him Archangel spoke again, "Okay they've agreed to let you stay on Orion."

"Thank god." She said letting out a sigh of relief.

….

Simon Given paced back and forth, tears streaming down his face and a bottle of whiskey in his hand. He stopped pacing as the door opened and a number 1 walked in.

"John thank you for coming." Simon said.

"What's wrong?" he asked walking over and putting his hand on the young man's shoulder.

"It's Kelly, she was murdered this afternoon. Someone killed her, stabbed her in the heart for fraks sake."

Another dead Cylon, this was getting out of hand 1 thought to himself.

"Simon sit down, come on." 1 said leading Simon over to the sofa in the room.

As Simon sat down he took a drink from the bottle.

"That's not going to help, you know that, give it to me." 1 said.

Simon handed him the bottle and put it on a table.

"They're not going to do anything about it." He said through his tears.

"What do you mean they're not going to do anything about it?" 1 replied.

"Some officer on Orion said she was a Cylon, that someone's been killing off Cylons, they have the killer and they're going to do nothing."

"She was a cylon?" 1 said trying to sound surprised.

Simon nodded his head, "I have to do something, you have to give me something to do."

"What do you mean?"

"Come on John you recruited me into the NCO, you're the one who always said about the military not giving a frak, you were right. Give me something to do."

"Like what?" 1 replied.

"Like walking onto their CIC with a bomb." Simon said.

"Now wait a minute, that's not what the NCO is about." 1 replied trying to sound concerned.

"I have nothing left to live for, nothing. Everyone from Delta Seven is off doing their thing, Hydra's back flying raptors, Kal is working on their deck, dash is on one of the repair platforms, the only thing I had was Kelly Cylon or not I loved her."

1 put his hand on the young man's shoulder, "I'll find something for you. Come to my quarters this evening, we will prey for Kelly."

….

Archangel walked into Skeeter's room on the Medstar. He had been transferred there to recover from the damage the bullet caused to his lung.

"Hey buddy." Skeeter said.

"Hey how you feeling?" Archangel replied.

"Better, the drugs are great, although the ones that are supposed to stop the cravings for cigarettes, not so good." He laughed after he spoke.

"Grace is a Cylon." Archangel blurted out.

"Holy frak, are you serious?" Skeeter replied.

Archangel nodded, "There were bodies that have been turning up in the fleet that turned out to be cylon, she's been hunting them down and killing them. It turns out that after she downloaded she turned her back on her people and now she's a traitor to them."

"Does Garrett know?"

"Yeah Grace is on Orion now, in exchange for information on the Cylons Garrett is letting her stay."

"How are you doing with this?" Skeeter asked.

"I don't know. I mean I don't know how I'm supposed to react, yes she's on our side but she's a cylon." Archangel asked.

"Do you love her still?"

"Yeah I do."

"Well then I think you have your answer."

….

Commander Garrett walked into sickbay, there were bodies everywhere, the Cylons Grace had killed and the seven people Archangel had killed getting off the Starburst. Grace and Mike stood at one of the computer terminals, he was clearly impressed by something she had shown him. Dr Hammond walked over to her.

"Well?" Garrett asked.

"Wow yeah we now have a way to test human from cylon." Hammond replied.

"And it's for real?" Garrett replied.

"Yeah it's for real. Come into my office we need to talk." The doctor said.

Garrett followed the doctor into her office and she shut the door behind her.

"I got your test results back." Hammond said as she sat down.

"And?"

"You're pregnant." The doc replied.

"Oh gods." Garrett replied.

"Tell me if I'm out of line Vanessa but Archangel's the father isn't he?"

Garrett nodded her head, "Yes he is."

"This isn't a terrible thing, a baby in light of what happened to our race is a good thing."

"I can't have a baby," Garrett replied, "I'm the commander of a Battlestar, if all this hadn't have happened then maybe things would be different but I don't have time to raise a kid and do my job."

"So what do you want to do?"

Garrett took a deep breath, "Can you terminate it?"

"Yes but are you completely sure? Don't you want to go talk it over with Archangel?"

"No he can never know, he has other things on his mind anyway." Garrett said looking through the office window at Grace.

….

1 walked down a corridor on the Starburst looking very smug. The deaths of these Cylons looked like they could turn into a good thing. He walked into one of the most luxurious suites on the entire ship, it was massive. Mr Caprica met him.

"John it's good to see you, can I get you a drink?" Mr Caprica asked.

"Yes thank you. Have you heard about the bodies turning up throughout the fleet?"

"Yes I have, Mr Scorpia wound up being one of the victims."

"Well up until Mr Scorpia the other bodies were all Cylon."

"Really, who has been hunting Cylons?"

"Another Cylon if my Intel is correct. Mr Scorpia tried to get to her but he was stopped by Major Hunter from Orion."

"So the major killed Scorpia?"

"Yes he did. He is proving to become an annoyance." 1 replied.

Mr Caprica laughed to himself.

"Do you want me to send someone to deal with the major?" 1 asked.

"No, under no circumstances is Major Hunter to be targeted by anyone in our organisation, you can kill everyone else on that ship but not him."

"May I ask why?"

"You can ask." He replied handing 1 a glass of Ambrosia.

"Seriously, I work my fingers to the bone for you and the twelve, I never ask for anything from you."

Mr Caprica sighed, "John you are my most trusted advisor, you're my friend, the only person in this fleet that trust."

"And I would never betray that trust." 1 replied.

"Major Hunter," Mr Caprica paused for a moment, "He's my son."

The shock on 1's face was genuine this he had not expected, at all.

"He can never know. If he knew the kind of man I was before the attack, the kind of man I am now and the things I'm planning on doing he would tear this fleet apart looking for me and if he found out I left his mother and brother on Caprica, he would kill me."


	16. Pandora

President Milo Vents had had a long day. After a meeting with the Quorum had gone on for nearly three hours he had a meeting with the woman who would be his new vice president by the end of the week. Natasha Cobb had been involved with organizing the elections and the running of the fleet before he had been elected. When she had been suggested as becoming the Vice president he had no doubts in his mind she would be the perfect choice. After the monthly meeting with the fleet's captains he had finally managed to get home to his quarters on the Caprica Sunrise. As he sat down and took a sip out of his whiskey there was a knock at the door. He sighed to himself, all he wanted to do was relax for the evening. As he opened the door he was relieved to see his son Jasper Vents standing there.

"Hey son, come in." Milo said, "Can I get you a drink?"

"Yeah please." Jasper replied sitting down.

"How have you been?" Milo asked.

"Good thanks. I've been thinking about my future in the fleet and where my place could be." He replied.

"I've told you that there is always a job for you with me." Milo replied handing his son a glass of ambrosia.

"I know and I've seriously considered it. This whole thing, the Cylons destroying our homes and our race, my life before hand. My gods the only thing that I will be remembered for if I died today is being your son. I partied to hard, slept with women I didn't know, I did frak all. I realised that everyone has to make a difference if we're going to survive," he took a sip from his drink and took a deep breath, "I joined up for pilot training onboard the Orion."

"You did what?" Milo replied.

"Dad this is something that I want to do, my way of helping."

"Son I really don't think you've thought this through at all."

"I have, it's all I've been thinking about for weeks. You fought in the first war, both my grandfathers were in the military, this is what I'm supposed to do."

This surprised Milo. Before the attack all he had wanted was for his son to do something with his life, he just never expected it would be this.

"Dad say something." Jasper said.

"Okay, if that's what you want then I'll support you. Just remember that when you start this you have to follow it through."

"I know, I can do this."

….

"Is this for real?" Archangel asked looking at the list of new recruits.

"Apparently so." Bojay replied.

"I thought Jasper Vents was a party boy and took nothing seriously. I have a lot of respect for his old man but he's a punk." Archangel said.

"We can turn him down." Bojay said.

"No you can't." Commander Garrett said.

"And why not?" Archangel replied.

"Come on guys think, if we turn down the presidents son then the media will take hold of it and blow it out of all proportions." Garrett replied.

"Who gives a frak about the media." Bojay said.

"The people of this fleet. Look between the NCO, the Cylons and the fact that the Pegasus story just won't seem to go away the last thing we or the government need is another scandal."

"I understand that but it's hardly a scandal." Archangel replied.

"Before the attack no it wouldn't be, but now the slightest thing is a fraking scandal. The fact they haven't found out we are keeping a cylon on Orion and that we're using her for intel against her own people is somewhat of a miracle." Garrett said.

"Okay." Archangel said, "But he gets no special treatment just because his old man is the president."

"That's fine." Garrett replied.

"On that note I have to be on my way, I have a scouting mission that I should have started half an hour ago." Bojay said excusing himself.

Once he had left the pilots briefing room Archangel turned to Garrett, "How have you been?"

"Good thank you. You?" she replied.

"Yeah I'm good. We never really talk anymore," Archangel said, "I miss talking to you."

"Yeah well we're busy people." She said getting up and walking to the door.

"Vanessa talk to me." Archangel replied.

She turned around, "Major other than work we have nothing else to talk about any more. Go talk to your Cylon." Garrett walked out of the room leaving Archangel lost for words.

….

As raptor one made its jump to start its scouting mission dradis was clear.

"Everything's clear," Bria said, "Starting scans of the system."

"You're never going to guess who just signed up for viper training." Bojay said.

Bria sighed to herself, she had never known anyone who was as big on gossip as Bojay, "Surprise me." She replied.

"Jasper Vents." Bojay said.

Bria actually did find herself surprised, "Seriously, the presidents son." She replied.

"Oh yeah. Apparently he wants to better himself."

"Well if he's anything like his old man in the cockpit he'll be one hell of a viper jock."

"I knew the president served in the first war, didn't know that much about what he did though." Bojay replied.

"Well that's because you know nothing about history," Bria said, "He served with Commander Johanssen aboard the original Atlantia, he was even the CAG at one stage."

"Everyday is a school day." Bojay said.

"It certainly is for you." Bria replied.

"Any one would think you thought I was a bit dumb." Bojay said with a chuckle.

"I wouldn't say dumb," Bria replied, "Ignorant sometimes." She said laughing.

Bria checked the readouts coming from the system they had just entered.

"There's a planet up ahead we should check out, I'm giving you the co-ordinates." Bria said.

"Got them, lets go see."

Raptor one made it's way through the large system to the massive planet ahead of them.

"Wow it's twice the size of Caprica." Bria said.

"Did you see that on dradis?" Bojay asked.

Bria looked and saw the ghost that Bojay must have seen.

"Whatever it is it seems to be in a high orbit with the planet." Bria replied.

Bojay moved the raptor closer and then they saw what was causing the ghost.

"Holy frak." Bojay said.

"Oh my gods." Bria added.

In front of them drifting in orbit of the planet was the Battlestar Olympus.

"Battlestar Olympus do you copy this is Battlestar Orion Raptor one." Bria said over the COM.

There was no reply. The Battlestar looked battered, it looked as though it had been in a huge battle and come off badly.

"There appears to be no power coming from Olympus," Bria said, "We should get back to Orion and tell them what we found."

"Agreed, spool up the FTL." Bojay replied.

….

Colonel Rae stood on CIC. Things were quiet, just as she liked them. No sign of the Cylons, no sign of the NCO. Things had been so hectic that it was nice for the crew to be able to stop and catch their breath for a change. She took a sip from her coffee, the simple pleasures in life such as a cup of Tauron coffee were the things that made life worth getting up in the morning for.

Dradis beeped. She looked up and saw Raptor one appears.

"That's too quick." She said to herself.

"Colonel I have Bojay on the horn." Lt Taylor said.

She sighed to herself, here we go again she thought, "Put him through." She said.

Rae picked up the phone in front of her.

"This is Rae." She said.

"Colonel you are not going to believe what we just found." Bojay replied over the COM.

"Captain I'm in no mood for guessing games." She replied.

"The Battlestar Olympus." He replied.

…

Commander Garrett walked into the wardroom and met Colonel Rae, Archangel, Bojay and Bria.

"Talk to me." She said as she sat down.

"We found the Olympus," Bojay replied, "She's sat in a high orbit around a planet we found but there appeared to be no power or sign of life aboard. Whatever happened to them they were battered about. There was damage all over the ship. It may never fly but we could use it for parts."

This brought mixed emotions for Garrett, excitement that they had found another part of home but disappointment that there was probably no one left alive onboard.

"Okay we take Orion and the repair platforms to Olympus. Major get five boarding teams together and go aboard. I want to know she is safe before we send anyone aboard to see what we can salvage." Garrett said.

"Yes ma'am." Archangel replied.

"We'll leave the fleet here under the protection of the gunstars." Garrett said, "I better tell the president."

…

Commander Garrett sat in her quarters talking to the president.

"I'd love to see the Olympus." The president said.

"Once we know it's secure and everything is okay I'll have it arranged." Garrett replied.

"Thank you commander that would be fantastic."

There was silence for the next few moments.

"Vanessa is you okay?" Milo asked.

"Yes Mr President I'm fine. Just disappointed that it doesn't seem like anyone will be alive onboard." She replied.

"Fair enough. I just want you to know if you ever need to talk or vent any frustration I'm here."

Garrett let out a little laugh, "Thank you, I'll take you up on that some time."

"Please do."

"I'll get back in touch once you can come and see Olympus."

"Of course."

…

Orion and the two support platforms moved out of their position in the fleet formation and jumped away. They jumped in next to the massive planet and moved towards the fallen Battlestar.

On CIC Garrett and Rae stood at the dradis console.

"Lieutenant Taylor pleases in form Major Hunter he is clear to begin his mission." Garrett said.

"Yes ma'am." She replied.

Four raptors launched from Orion and headed towards Olympus. As the raptors got closer they moved to be able to land in one of the flight pods. Inside there was damage all around. The remains of three vipers scattered the ground. As the raptors touched down the backs opened. All in flight suits Archangel led all the marines towards one of the airlocks. Vannick stood along side him.

"The vipers are empty. Looks like whoever was in them managed to get out." He said.

"That's good. Let's get this door opened." Archangel replied.

Archangel tried the hatch release and the door opened straight away and they all walked into the large air lock. As the outer door closed the inner airlock door opened.

"Okay it appears the ship still has some emergency power. Life support seems to be working at least." Archangel said.

"Should we take our helmets off?" one of the marines asked.

"No," Archangel replied, "There's no telling when the life support could die. Okay you all know your areas, let's get this done."

Orion's CIC was silent as they listened to the chatter from the boarding parties. Tensions were high, no one knew what they would find.

"There are a lot of vipers and raptors here that we could use." Archangel said over the COM.

"Any idea how many?" Garrett asked.

"Not an exact amount but there are dozens of vipers and I can see at least twenty raptors." Archangel replied.

As Archangel and his team of marines moved into one of the corridors lights were flickering on and off.

"Whatever happened here happened quickly," Archangel said, "Lockers and doors have been left wide open and there are empty ammo and supply boxes. There is still no sign of anyone."

Vannick led his team towards the engine room. There was far more damage in the bowels of the ship than he had expected. There were parts of bulkhead torn apart by explosions. There were scorch and burn marks everywhere as well as dried blood. As he walked into the engine room he could see immediately why they Olympus would never fly again.

"Orion this is Vannick we're in the engine room and it's a mess in here. There is no way Olympus will ever fly again. There have been so many explosions in here virtually everything is in pieces."

"Can anything be salvaged?" Garrett asked over the COM.

"It doesn't look like it to me but I'm not an engineer so I could be wrong. There have been explosions and fires all over the deck. We found dried blood stains in places as well."

"Thank you sergeant, carry on." Garrett replied.

Archangel walked onto Olympus' CIC, much like everywhere else there were signs of fires and explosions. Archangel went to the dradis console and opened a panel at the bottom.

"Okay the flight recorder is still here and it looks to be in one piece." Archangel said as he took it out and put it on the surface in front of him. He pressed a few of the controls and it flickered to life, "That's affirmative the flight recorder is functional."

It took a further two hours for the teams to fully check the fallen Battlestar. There had been no signs of life at all. Raptors and other shuttles were gone and unaccounted for. Archangel had come to the conclusion that the crew must have abandoned ship but they wouldn't know for sure until they could check the flight recorder and the commander's logs they had been able to find. Once it had been deemed clear the two recovery platforms had secured Olympus and teams were being prepared to salvage anything that could be useful.

Archangel sat in the mess eating his lunch. The ghost ship that was the Battlestar Olympus had affected him more than he had realised. It was horrible to see something like a Battlestar in that condition. It had been people's home, people's protection. Gods only knew how many people had survived. He had sent raptors out to investigate the planet and take some sensor sweeps to see if they could find anything, he was hopeful. Wedge came in and sat with him.

"You okay?" Wedge asked.

"Yeah I'm good," he replied, "It was eerie over there, seeing the level of destruction that they had taken and not knowing what happened to their crew, it's horrible."

"Hopefully when the raptors get back they will have some good news from the surface." He replied.

"I hope so." Archangel replied.

….

Commander Garrett sat by herself in her quarters. On her desk in front of her were the logbooks of Commander Jonathan Fincher. She had never met Fincher, she had never even heard of him before. She couldn't help but wonder what kind of man he was, what type of commander. She took a deep breath and opened the first log.

Personal log of Commander Jonathan Fincher.

_I am already falling in love with this ship. This is my first command and things couldn't be going smoother. Our shakedown is over and passed without any incident at all. The crew are working well together and I am more than impressed with them. I was told my XO should be firm with the crew, but never break them. That is certainly the case with Colonel James. She is such a softly spoken woman, makes sure everything she does is perfect and then when her temper erupts, the gods themselves must have heard her. She is the best choice I could have made._

We are on course to begin our first assignment. We have been assigned to Admiral Lionel Garrett's battle group.

Vanessa stopped reading, she was shocked, this she had not expected. She composed herself and continued to read.

This is going to be a long mission, charged with finding new habitable worlds, worlds that we could live on if we had to. I'm not expecting anything in the way of trouble, all I have to do is think about the day-to-day running of my ship.

Vanessa read on late into the night, things didn't get very interesting. In the two years they had been on their mission they had found a dozen worlds that could potentially home their race. She did find the comments about her father interesting. He didn't like Fincher and she knew why. The commander had a mind of his own and sometimes questioned her father that he hated, in his mind he was always right.

The events of the battle still haunt me. They came out of nowhere at first we didn't know what hit us. Thankfully we quickly regained our composure quickly, banded together and kicked the Cylons seven days from Sunday. When things calmed down after the attack I went to see the Admiral. I told him that we should head back to the colonies, we had to warn the people back home that the Cylons were around again. The Admiral in his infinite wisdom didn't agree. He told me that they must have been exploring like us and there was nothing for the people back home to worry about. The discussion became heated and before I realised we were screaming at each other. I told him he was a shortsighted fool and that's when he swung a punch. It only clipped my jaw but I saw red, the punch that I threw knocked him on his ass. I left as quickly as I could and flew back to Olympus. The fleet prepared for a jump, when we reached the other side the rest of the ships were nowhere to be seen, the son of a bitch left us behind. I decided that we should head back to the colonies, he may not have thought the Cylons were a threat, but I certainly do.

She would have loved to be able to believe that her father wasn't that short sighted but she knew otherwise. He had to be right, he always did. No matter how wrong he was, even if it was proved to him that he was wrong he still wouldn't believe it. Now he had left over two thousand people stranded in deep space alone. She just hoped they would be able to find survivors somewhere, so that she could in some way make up for what he had done to the Olympus. She thought of Commander Johannsen, he had been a great man, a great teacher, somebody she would have been proud to call her father. How could two men who did the same job be so different? She hoped that she was in no way like her father. She put all her command skills down to the teachings of Johannsen and Colonel Belzen. Her thoughts were broken by a knock on the door.

"Come in." she said looking up from the logbook.

President Vents walked in.

"Mr President when did you arrive?" Garrett asked.

"About an hour ago. Bojay came for me per your orders." He replied.

"Can I get you a drink?"

"Yes please." He replied.

Vanessa walked over to her glasses and bottle of whiskey and poured them both a glass, she handed one to him before sitting back down at her desk.

"Interesting reading?" Milo asked.

Vanessa nodded in reply, "Very, the Olympus was part of a battle group sent out to look for habitable worlds, commanded by my father." She replied.

"They were attacked by Cylons. Commander Fincher from the Olympus told my father that he thought they should head back to the colonies to warn us, my father disagreed, he said that the Cylons were probably just exploring as they were. They had a heated disagreement and my father left the Olympus behind."

"That sounds like your father." Milo replied.

"You knew him?" Vanessa asked in amazement.

"I met him on a few occasions. We didn't really get on, if I may say I found him to be arrogant amongst other things."

"You can call him anything you want, we have never got on."

"I gathered that from something Johannsen said which is why I never brought it up."

"He's still out there oblivious to what's going on around him. I hope we never find him."

"Wouldn't you like the opportunity, in light of recent events to patch things up with him?"

Vanessa laughed, "No chance. He hates me and I can honestly say the feeling is mutual. If we find them one of the first things he'll do is try and remove me from command."

"He would do that?"

"Oh yes. As I said he hates me. He was sure while he was away in space that my mother had been having affairs, he is convinced that I'm not his daughter. When he found out I had joined the military he tried everything he could to get me kicked out."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Don't be, I got over it a long time ago."

"For what it's worth your father will have to go through me before he can even think of removing you from Orion."

Vanessa laughed, "Thank you."

The phone on the wall next to her starting to ring stopped the conversation. She picked it up.

"Garrett."

"Commander sorry to call so late but we have the flight recorder working." Archangel said.

"Very good Major the president and I are on our way." She replied.

The commander and the president met Archangel, Bojay and Chief Arthur James.

"What do you have for us gentlemen?" the president asked.

"Well we know what happened to Olympus. They were attacked by Cylons and took one hell of a beating. They managed to jump back to one of the planets they had found. They knew they couldn't stay on Olympus so they abandoned ship and headed down to the planet we found them in orbit of." Archangel said.

"You mean they're down there?" Garrett asked, "For how long?"

"The flight recorder indicates they abandoned Olympus three weeks ago." The Chief replied.

"Have raptors found anything yet?" Garrett asked.

"Not yet but they're still searching." Bojay replied.

"Double the amount of raptors you sent out, I want them found as soon as possible." Vanessa ordered.

"Yes ma'am." Bojay replied.

….

Lieutenant Jessica "Hydra" Anders flew her raptor across the massive planet. Since rejoining the fleet after being rescued from Delta Seven she had been offered a position on Orion as well as a leg up to first seat. Being back in the military had given her the new lease of life she had been looking for for a very long time. Her ECO Ensign Tim "Upchuck" Hurley had been sat in the back of the raptor babbling on for the last half an hour. Hydra had realised soon after starting to fly with him that if she zoned out when he started to talk and just replied with "yeah" or "aha" every now and again he figured she was paying attention.

"Hydra I just got a blip." Upchuck said.

"From what?" Hydra replied.

"Hang on." He replied as he checked into what it could be, "Holy frak it's a colonial transponder, it's very very weak but we have a position."

Hydra smiled, "Okay let's get back to Orion so they can launch a SAR team."

As the raptor broke atmosphere they spoke with Orion.

"Orion this is Upchuck."

"Upchuck, Orion go ahead." Lt Taylor replied.

"We have found a weak colonial transponder, sending you the coordinates now." The young ensign replied.

"All raptors please return to the barn."

….

Archangel stood in a briefing with the commander and XO.

"I'll lead an initial SAR mission with three raptors. I'll take a few marines and medics with me and we will asses the situation before landing more shuttles to evacuate the crew." Archangel said.

"Very good Major, when do you launch?" the commander replied.

"Within the hour. Sergeant Vannick is gathering a team of marines and I need to inform the medics."

"Be careful down there." Garrett said.

"What could go wrong," Archangel replied, "A little walk on a planet with no Cylons chasing us all the way."

"Famous last words." Rae replied.

….

The three SAR raptors broke through the planets atmosphere and headed in the direction of the transponder signal. The terrain of the planet was similar to Caprica. They passed over part of an ocean as well as forests and fields of grass. It was typical Archangel thought that the closer to the signal they got the more barren the landscape began. Rocks and sand as far as the eye could see and a trench canyon that ran, as far as they could tell across most of the canyon.

"Major we're going to have to set down here." Hydra said from the front of the raptor. Archangel gave her the thumbs up.

"All raptors this is Hydra form up on me we're going to land."

The three birds landed near a huge rock formation, which was the only flat land for miles around. The backs of the raptors opened up as they powered down.

"Major do you want us to come with you?" Hydra asked.

"No stay with the birds in case any survivors saw us come in." he replied.

"Yes sir." She replied.

The heat of the sun hit them when they walked outside despite generous cloud cover. The marines and medics gathered around Archangel.

"Okay the signal is about three clicks north from here. Keep your eyes peeled for anyone who could be injured or not able to draw attention to themselves."

The SAR team began their trek through the heat.

….

As raptor one launched from Orion the president sat in the cockpit next to Bojay. He was quite excited to see the Battlestar. The commander had given him permission to take a walk on one of the recovery platforms. He couldn't remember the last time he had taken a space walk but he was surprised at how excited he was about it.

"Everything okay there Mr President?" Bojay asked.

"Yes thank you captain. I appreciate you finding the time to indulge me, I know as squadron XO your time must be limited." He replied.

"Don't worry about it, I have to admit that I'm looking forward to taking a walk out there myself." Bojay replied.

"I do hope Archangel manages to find some survivors down there." Milo said.

"Likewise and lets face it sir, if anyone is going to find people it will be Archangel." Bojay said.

The president chuckled, "You're quite right captain."

"Please sir call me Bojay." He replied, "and this is Bria or Typhoon. We tend to call her Bria as she's one of those pilots who hates her call sign."

"It's very nice to meet you Bria."

"Thank you sir." She replied.

"Please while were on this little outing and nowhere official call me Milo."

As they reached the Olympus, which now straddled the two recovery platforms, the president was hit with a twinge of sadness that this once great ship was now relegated to scrap.

"I think this is a sight that anyone who has been in the military would find sad." Milo said.

"Agreed sir, I mean Milo. This ship should be kicking the cylon's asses." Bojay said.

"I couldn't have put it better myself." Milo replied.

"Can I ask you a question?" Bojay asked.

"Of course." Milo replied.

"What was your call sign while you were a pilot?" Bojay asked.

"Breakneck." Milo replied, "I was always getting into trouble when I was training for flying too fast when I didn't need to, apparently I flew at Breakneck speeds."

"That's a good one." Bria replied.

"If I may say Bria I like Typhoon as a call sign, lets face it, it could be much worse."

"Thank you." She replied with a smile.

"Raptor one this is recovery platform two we have cleared a spot for you to land." A voice said over the COM.

"Recovery platform two this is Typhoon thank you very much and we are coming into land." Bria replied.

Bojay brought the raptor over the massive platform and gently brought it to a standstill. As the back opened Bojay led the president to the back.

"I'll stay with the raptor if that's okay." Bria said.

"Sure thing." Bojay replied.

As they stepped out onto the platform the view was amazing. In front of them the Olympus, stood in front of it they could appreciate just how massive it was. Orion sat to the left of them with a CAP flying through the stars and to their right the massive planet, it was breathtaking.

"Oh wow." Milo said, "This is amazing."

"Yes it is." Bojay said as they began to walk to Olympus. There were salvage crews at work on the platform and on the fallen Battlestar.

"I have to touch her." Milo said, "How often do you get the change to actually touch the outside of a Battlestar."

The two men walked in almost complete silence, taking in this once in a lifetime view. As they neared Olympus they could hear a loud creaking noise from the ship. Neither of them thought anything of it and just kept walking. Moments later the outer hull of the Olympus ruptured causing a series of short explosions knocking both men off their feet and floating off into space.

"Holy frak. Orion this is Typhoon we have an emergency. There has been some kind of explosion and the president and Bojay were right next to it, they're floating off into open space, be advised I am going after them." Bria said as she got into the cockpit and took off.

"Typhoon this is Orion, once you have them both onboard please head back to Orion to see if they need medical attention." Colonel Rae replied, "Do you need any assistance?"

"No colonel I'm nearly there." Bria replied pulling the raptor to a halt next to the two men as they drifted. Bria attached herself to a chord and moved after them.

"Bojay, Mr President can either of you hear me? Are you okay?" Bria said. She reached Bojay first and grabbed hold of him by the ankle pulling him towards her.

"Orion I have Bojay he's out cold. There is a crack in his helmet and he appears to be bleeding from a cut on his head."

Holding onto Bojay as tightly as she could she managed to grab the president and move back towards the raptor. When they were inside she pressurised the raptor. Both men were out cold.

"Orion this is Typhoon I have both men, both are unconscious and not responsive to me. I am on my way to you right now."

"Typhoon this is Colonel Rae there are medical teams standing by and the port flight pod has been cleared for you."

….

Sickbay was in chaos as Garrett and Rae walked in. Both the president and Bojay were being tended to by medics. Dr Hammond came over to the commander.

"How are they?" Garrett asked.

"Bad," Hammond replied, "The force of the blast and the debris that hit them has caused massive internal injuries."

"Can you save them?" Rae asked.

"That's the problem, they both need to go into surgery now and I'm the only doctor who can perform the surgery."

"We can take Orion back and get a doctor off the Medstar." Rae replied.

"We don't have the time they both need to go into surgery now. Commander one of them is going to die, I need to know who you want me to operate on."

Garrett was speechless. She looked at both men whose lives were in her hands.

"It has to be the president." Garrett replied.

Hammond didn't wait for her to say anything else she turned and walked over to the president.

Garrett and Rae stood looking at Bojay as the medics tried to help him as much as they could.

"I can't believe we're going to loose him." Garrett said.

"Hang on," Rae said, "What about the Cylon? She has medical knowledge, she says she wants to prove herself to us."

Garrett turned and picked up the phone next to the door.

"Lt Taylor I need to speak to one of the marines guarding the cylon immediately." She said.

"Putting you through." Taylor replied.

Moments later one of the marines picked up.

"Corporal Blackman." Came the booming voice on the other end.

"Corporal this is the commander I need you to bring Grace to sickbay immediately, run if you have to it's a matter of life and death."

"Yes ma'am we're on our way." He replied.

The next few minutes seemed to last an eternity. Garrett and Rae both breathed a sigh of relief as the two marines appeared escorting Grace between them.

"Grace how much medical knowledge do you have?" Garrett asked.

"Extensive," she replied, "I was given all the knowledge that is usually given to our doctors."

"There has been an accident and if Bojay isn't operated on right away he will die." Garrett replied.

Grace walked over to Bojay and looked at the information written onto the charts. She looked at the dying pilot and new she could save him.

"Commander I can do this."

The medics looked a little concerned.

"Then save him." Garrett replied.

….

The heat of the planet was intense. After Archangel and the others had walked for two clicks they stopped for a quick break. Sergeant Lucas Jennings who Archangel had barely seen since they rescued him and the others from Caprica.

"You okay there Major?" he asked.

Archangel took a sip from his water before he replied, "Yeah hanging in there, you?"

"All good, although they could have been kind enough to land in the countryside or by the coast." Jennings replied.

"Couldn't agree with you more."

"Major come look at this." One of the medics shouted.

Archangel and Jennings walked over to them.

"What have you seen?" Archangel asked.

The medic pointed into the valley below. In front of them sat strewn the wreckage of a ship.

"What the frak is that?" Jennings asked.

Archangel took out his binoculars and took a look.

"Oh my gods." He said.

"What is it?" Jennings replied.

"Of all the places, it's the Pandora." Archangel said.

"The Pandora?" Jennings replied.

"Twenty three years ago the science vessel Pandora was sent out on a six year mission to find new planets, see if they could find life in general to see what they could find. Six years came and went and the Pandora never returned, no one knew what had happened to them. Ladies and gentlemen we've just made one of the most important finds in the last seventeen years." Archangel said.

"Is that where the transponder is coming from?" Jennings asked.

"It seems like it. Lets just hope the Olympus survivors heard the transponder and came here." Archangel said.

The group walked another half a click before they found somewhere they could easily get down the valley and be able to get back up again.

It was clear that when the Pandora had crashed it had been going quite quickly. There was wreckage everywhere. As they moved closer they found a large section of the ship that was still intact and found an area they could get into. Archangel climbed in to the pitch-black interior first and switched on his torch. Vannick and Jennings followed him next. The inside of the ship looked as badly damaged as the outside. The light from all the torches illuminated the long broken corridor enough for them to see quite clearly.

"Surely there can't be any survivors from the original crash." Vannick said as they walked.

As they reached an adjoining corridor they found three severely decomposed corpses.

"How many crewmembers did this ship have?" Jennings asked.

"Over three hundred." Archangel replied.

Archangel looked at the uniforms that covered what was left of the bodies.

"These are the Pandora flight uniforms." He said.

As he stood up a blood chilling screech could be heard from somewhere in the ship.

"What the frak was that?" Vannick asked clutching his rifle.

"Calm down guys it could be anything at all, we don't know if this planet has any animal life."

The screech came again, this time from in front of them.

"Is anybody there?" Jennings asked loudly.

"Frak me why did you shout that, don't you ever watch movies?" Vannick said.

Archangel flashed his light up ahead and they could see someone standing in front of them.

"My name is Major Hunter, I'm from the Battlestar Orion, are you okay?" Archangel asked.

He flashed the light so they could see the mans face. It was smeared in blood. Parts of his own skin had been torn away. It was then they realised the screech had come from him as he begin to sprint towards them. Archangel drew his sidearm and shot the man between the eyes killing him instantly.

"What the frak was that?" one of the medics asked with terror in his voice.

"That was a man and we're getting the frak out of here." Archangel replied.

As he finished speaking they could hear multiple screeches, too many for them to know how many "people" they were coming from. Vannick shined his light back down the corridor they were facing and five of them were running towards them, men and women.

"Get the frak out of here." Archangel yelled.

As the others began to retreat Archangel calmly began to shoot the people running at him. He counted the rounds he fired in his head so he wouldn't be caught short and kept firing till they were all dead. He turned and joined the others as they ran.

"How many did you just take out?" Jennings asked.

"Nine." Archangel replied.

One by one they all dived out into the daylight. As Archangel was about to join the others one of them dived on him out of the shadows. He fell with the woman on top of him. She was definitely human, or she had been at one time. Like the others he had already killed they wore Pandora flight uniforms. She snarled at him as she tried to rip into his face with her hands. The rage in her eyes was unlike any he had ever seen in a person before. With all his strength he pushed the woman off him giving Vannick a clear enough shot to take her out.

"Thanks." Archangel asked as Vannick helped him to his feet.

As they joined the others outside they were met by a group of people all with their weapons pointed at them.

"Who the frak are you?" a woman asked.

"My name is Major Mark Hunter from the Battlestar Orion, who are you?"

"Captain Amy Wesson, Battlestar Olympus. What the frak is the Orion doing here?"

"Listen I'm sure we all have lots of stories to tell each other but right now we have to get the frak out of here. We came here looking for you guys and well we didn't just find you."

"There are more of them in there?" Amy asked.

"More of them?" Vannick replied.

"Can we talk and walk or even talk and run?" Archangel replied.

….

Colonel Rae was back with the fleet. She had come to tell the Quorum what had happened to the president. She hated politics and politicians in general, President Vents was the only exception in a life long disliking of them.

"How is he? Will he live?" one of the quorum asked.

"He is currently in surgery, our doctor is convinced that he will be fine." Rae replied.

"Whose fault was this?" the Arilon representative asked.

"This is no one's fault, what happened was an accident plain and simple."

"Surely Orion should leave what they are doing and come back to the fleet straight away." The Picon representative said.

"Orion will stay where it is for the time being. Olympus is being stripped for anything we could use, we have people on the planets surface searching for any survivors. Plus the president is receiving the best care possible. As there is no current Vice President Commander Garrett has assumed total command of the fleet."

"So she is declaring martial law?" the Arilon representative asked.

"No she hasn't but it stands to reason that she should take command." Rae replied.

There was disapproval from the quorum.

"I'm sorry would you like her to declare martial law? Because she can if that is what you would prefer?"

"No that's fine, we should look into getting Miss Cobb sworn in as soon as possible."

"You do that, meanwhile till we get back Captain Reynolds from the Gunstar Cryxus is in command."

"Where are you going?" the Picon representative asked.

"Back to Orion, I'll let you lot sort out what you're going to do next. If you need us talk to Captain Reynolds, I'm sure he'll be able to help." Rae replied.

Colonel Rae got up and walked out of the room and gave a sigh of relief.

….

"So do you have any idea what is going on here? It's like something out of a fraking zombie movie!" Vannick said.

"They're not zombies sergeant," Amy said, "They're human like you and me. Something in the atmosphere messes with the human brain. The water on the planet seems to accelerate it quicker. It's starts with paranoia before moving onto hallucinations. Then after that you turn violent and unresponsive to other people. Out of the three hundred people that landed with us at our site there are seventeen left. Some of them were killed by the ones from the wreckage you were just in, the rest turned after drinking water from a stream we found. I'm sorry to tell you guys but the second you took a breath of the oxygen down here it started to effect you too."

"Well that's just fraking wonderful." Jennings said.

"Have you managed to get in touch with any of the other camps?" Archangel asked.

"No. When they found us they decimated our camp, destroyed our raptors and most of our equipment," Amy replied, "So why is the Battlestar Orion doing out this far?"

"We're on the run." Archangel replied.

"From who?" Amy asked.

"The Cylons. They attacked the colonies and left it a nuclear wasteland. We all survived and have been running every since, looking for somewhere to live."

"And that's when you found us?"

"Yeah we found the Olympus dead in orbit and then your commander's logs and the flight computer led us here."

"Oh this isn't good." Vannick said as they saw the raptors.

There was smoke billowing out of the birds and dead pilots scattered across the ground. As they quietly approached everyone had their weapons drawn. A colonial officer who had been changed appeared from the back of Hydra's raptor and stared at them.

"Oh no, that's Commander Fincher." Amy said.

He jumped down from the raptor and ran at them at full pelt. Archangel raised his weapon and shot the man in the head.

"I'm sorry." Archangel said as he looked down at the commander before moving to the back of Hydra's raptor. He signalled the others to go and check the other birds. Slumped in a heap in the back section of the bird was Hydra, Archangel checked her pulse and was relieved to find her still alive.

"Hydra, Hydra can you hear me?" Archangel said.

She began to come round and for a moment flinched when she saw Archangel.

"Are you okay?" Archangel asked.

Hydra nodded, "We were attacked."

"I know, can you walk?"

"I think so."

Archangel helped her to her feet before turning to the storage locker at the back of the ship opening it. He handed Hydra one of the rifles, an ammo belt and a med kit before taking the same out for himself. The silence outside was shattered by the blood curdling screams and gunfire. As Archangel turned to face the hatch two of the former Olympus survivors lunged for him but were taken down by Hydra.

"Thanks." Archangel said.

"You're very welcome." She replied.

As they were about to leave the raptor they saw at least a dozen more of the Olympus crew heading towards them and Vannick and the others on the move. Vannick saw them and turned to help his friends.

"GO." Archangel yelled, "WE'LL CATCH UP."

Archangel and Hydra began to open fire as they got closer to the raptor, more and more began to appear.

"I'll be fraked if I'm dying here." Hydra said as she opened fire.

Vannick led the others away, the sound of gunfire still ringing through the air from behind them.

"We should go back," Amy said, "They won't survive."

"If there's one thing you'll find out about Major Hunter, not even a hundred centurions could stop him." Jennings replied.

Moments later the sound of gunfire stopped.

"Lets wait here." Vannick said.

Minutes passed that felt like hours as the group waited. There was a collective sigh of relief as Archangel and Hydra appeared.

"Did no one else make it?" Hydra asked as they joined the others.

"No everyone else was dead." Vannick replied.

….

Commander Garrett walked into sickbay as Hammond finished operating on the president.

"How is he?" Garrett asked.

"There was a lot of internal bleeding but I managed to fix it all. He's in a bad way but he's stable." Hammond replied.

"Will he make it?" Garrett asked.

"Yeah he'll make it."

"Thank the gods. How is Bojay doing?"

"The same. Grace is just finishing up. I've had medics keeping me updated on her progress and they tell me she has done a great job." Hammond replied.

"Good. Thank gods she was here."

"I know, she could be very useful." Hammond said.

"That would be if the crew would accept a cylon." Garrett replied.

"I think with what she's already done and the fact she just saved Bojay's life will go a long way. For what it's worth Vanessa, she's won me over."

As Hammond went to clean up the commander watched Grace as she worked on Bojay.

On Orion CIC Colonel Rae was pleased to be back. She took a sip from her coffee.

"Colonel the chief reports they've finished transferring over the functional vipers and raptors from Olympus." Lt Taylor said.

"How many do we have?" Rae replied.

"72 vipers and 33 raptors."

"Excellent. Keep me informed how they're going with munitions. Has there been any word from the SAR mission?" she asked.

"No ma'am." Taylor replied.

"Let's hope no news is good news." Rae replied.

….

Archangel and the others reached the Olympus survivors camp. The ten people who were there seemed surprised to see the newcomers.

"Captain everything okay?" Chief Henry Andrews asked.

"Yeah. This is Major Mark Hunter and some others from the Battlestar Orion." Amy replied.

"Orion?" the chief replied.

"It's a long story, Major do you want to tell it?" Amy replied.

Archangel sat down and told everyone about the attack and finding Olympus in orbit. The Olympus survivors were all clearly in shock at what they had been told.

"So Major." Amy said.

"Please call me Archangel." He replied.

"Okay, Archangel, when do we get rescued?" Amy asked.

"If we haven't been in touch with Orion by 0900 hours then they will launch more raptors to come find us." Archangel replied.

"Great another night on this rock." The chief said.

"At least it is only one night." Vannick said.

"Lets see if you have the same thought in the morning. Those things are worse at night." The chief said.

"So how come you guys are still unaffected?" Jennings asked.

"We haven't drunk and of the water or eaten any of the plants. I was leading a team to see what I could find when they found the stream. We've been drinking and eating from our supplies. By the time we got back to the camp it had been three days and those who had drunk from the stream had already become violent and unresponsive. It seems when you get to that stage that's it, there is no way to reason, no way to communicate. So far everyone we've met who had got to that stage just attacks."

"Hopefully our doctors will be able to reverse it." Vannick said.

"I hope so." Amy replied.

"So what do we do just wait here to be rescued?" the chief asked.

"We stay here tonight. In the morning we head back to our raptors and wait." Archangel replied.

"We wait, after what just happened?" Jennings exclaimed.

"What would you prefer, stay here and turn into that?" Archangel replied.

"Whose to say we're not going to turn into that anyway?" Jennings said.

"The doc'll be able to reverse whatever has happened to us." Archangel.

"And if she can't?" Jennings said.

"I haven't been through everything on the colonies and now here just to end up like that." Archangel replied.

"Here here." Vannick added.

"Now sergeant let's stop this type of talk." Archangel replied.

"Yes sir."

"Archangel I have a problem." Amy said.

"What's wrong?" he replied.

"I'm starting to feel, paranoid." She replied.

"Oh frak." The chief said.

"Okay how after the paranoia do the hallucinations start?" Archangel replied.

"I have no idea sir, I'm the first of us that are left that this has happened to."

….

Garrett sat in her quarters with Grace sat opposite her.

"Can I offer you a drink?" Garrett asked.

"No thank you." Grace replied.

"I just wanted to personally thank you for what you did today."

"I'm just glad you came to me for help. It would have been tragic if Captain Johnson had died."

"Yes it would. I'm going to have you transferred from the brig to your own quarters." Garrett said.

Grace was surprised by this, "Thank you commander."

"I'm afraid there will still be the same strict restrictions on your movement on the ship but it should be a little more comfortable. You've been good to your word so far and you have already done a lot of good in this fleet and on this ship. However I'm not 100% convinced that the crew would be ready to accept a Cylon walking around this ship freely."

"I completely understand commander. I just hope that in time everyone will accept me as you and some others already have."

"I'm sure they will. I also wanted to thank you for saving my life back on Caprica, with what was going on at the time I'm not sure I said it at the time."

"It's not a problem commander, with all due respect I wasn't sure you even remembered I had."

"I had and I am thankful that you did."

….

As night fell some of the camp managed to fall asleep while the others stood watch. Archangel sat with Amy as they talked.

"So I thought you were on Atlantia before the attack?" she said.

"I was. The day before the attack I went home to Sagitarron on leave. When the bombs started to drop me and a group of others went looking for some way off the planet. We managed to get to Caprica and then Orion found us." He replied.

"So whose in command of Orion?" she asked.

"Commander Vanessa Garrett."

"Garrett? Is she any relation to Admiral Garrett?"

"Yeah she's his daughter."

"Frak me."

"It's not something to worry about she's a good CO. Her only concern is protecting the fleet and finding a new home for us. From what I've heard they couldn't be less alike and by all accounts, they hate the site of each other."

"Normally I wouldn't worry about such things but under the circumstances I can't help but feel a little paranoid." She replied with a smile.

They both laughed.

"So what's your call sign?" Archangel asked.

"Streaker." She replied.

"Should I ask how you ended up with that one?"

"During some downtime during my flight training I was dared to streak across campus. I was caught by my flight instructor and the rest is history." She replied.

Archangel laughed again.

"Do you really think your doctor will be able to help us?"

"I think that with all the doctors and scientists we have in our fleet there is nothing to worry about."

"I hope you're right."

….

The next morning acting CAG Lieutenant Anthony "Wedge" Manning walked onto the CIC to be met by the commander.

"Good morning Commander." Wedge said.

"Morning Wedge there has been no word from the SAR teams." Garrett replied.

"What do you want to do?" Wedge replied.

"With everything that's been going on I'd rather know what's going on. Send out four raptors, two medical, and two support just in case. I don't want you to lead the mission though, with Archangel on the surface and Bojay in recovery I want my lead pilot to stay where he's needed most."

"Of course ma'am I'll put Cyanide in charge."

"Very good."

….

Archangel and the others checked the landing site with binoculars to see if the area was clear.

"Anyone see anything at all?" Hydra asked.

"Yeah I can see four of them by Raptor seven." Vannick replied.

"We have to make sure they're gone before anyone else comes." Archangel replied.

"There's no guaranteed time when the raptors will come, what are we going to do? If we take them out now more could come before the raptors get here." The Chief said.

"We wait as long as we can," Archangel replied, "We should hear a sonic boom when they enter the atmosphere or at the very least, should they enter the atmosphere too far away we'll hear them in the sky before we see them. As soon as we do Vannick, Jennings, Hydra and I will make a move for the raptors and take them out so it's clear for them to land."

"There's no way this is going to work." Amy said.

Archangel turned to her, "Trust me it will work."

"Trust you I don't even know you, we're going to die here just like everyone else." Amy shouted back.

"Erm boss." Jennings said.

"What?" Archangel replied.

"I don't think we're going to be able to wait to take them out." He replied, "I think they just heard Steaker."

Archangel turned to see the four "changed" as the chief had nick named them running towards them.

"Frak this." Archangel said.

He drew both side arms stood up and walked towards the running enemy. He fired four shots and took them all down with one shot. As the last one dropped they all heard the sonic boom from above.

"I told you it would work." Archangel shouted.

As the others came out from their hiding place Archangel holstered his weapons and looked up into the sky. He couldn't yet see any sign of the raptors but they should be there shortly. He looked back down and smiled at the others and then turned to look around him. The smile quickly fell off his face when he saw dozens of the "changed" running towards them at full pelt.

"This is fraking typical." Archangel said as he grabbed his rifle off his back and began to fire. One by one as he shot them they fell, "Why is it never easy," he said quietly to himself, "First the Cylons chase us, now these frakers. Just once, just once it would be nice to catch a fraking break."

As the others joined and opened fire more and more of them began to appear.

"Looks like we found the rest of your crew." Vannick said.

"Major!" Hydra shouted.

Archangel turned and saw more coming from the opposite direction.

"Oh frak."

He opened fire with Hydra.

"If this is it Major I just wanted to say that it's been an honour to serve with you." Hydra said.

"Likewise," he replied.

The gunfire was constant, only pausing for reloads. The "changed" were a mixture of the Olympus crew and Pandora crew.

"Fraking Cylons!" Amy shouted.

Archangel and Vannick both turned at the same time to see her firing at nothing, both men realising that she had already moved onto the hallucinations. Archangel moved to relieve her of her weapons when one of the "changed" that they hadn't spotted dived on him. As he crashed to the floor his rifle slid out of his reach. Archangel turned and punched the man bearing down on him as hard as he could sending him crashing away. Jennings moved into help.

"I can deal with this." Archangel said and the young sergeant turned back to the hoards bearing down on them. Archangel didn't even have time to draw one of his side arms, with all of Archangel's strength he let leash an uppercut, connecting perfectly with the mans jaw sending him crashing to the ground out cold. He turned and quickly checked the situation, it wasn't good, within minutes it wouldn't matter how many of them they had taken out they would be overrun.

The noise of chain guns was deafening. Archangel and the others looked up to see two of the raptors opening fire with their chain guns mowing down all the "changed". Amy was still firing at nothing, Archangel grabbed her rifle from her.

"What the frak are you doing?" she screamed, "There are centurions."

"There aren't any, you're hallucinating." Archangel replied.

"No I'm not." She yelled at him. As she reached for her side arm Vannick grabbed her from behind.

"It's okay I've got her." He said.

As the raptors touched down Hydra and Jennings stopped them from opening the side hatches of the raptors. Lieutenant Charlie "Cyanide" Mason knew something was wrong. As he powered down his raptor Hydra signalled him to make sure they were all wearing their flight helmets.

"Everyone this is Cyanide there's something wrong out there, everyone get your helmets on before you open up." He said.

As the raptors began to open Cyanide was met by Archangel.

"Is everything alright sir?" Cyanide asked.

"There's something in the air that has infected us. We need to get out of here now."

"Yes sir." He replied.

"And Cyanide."

"Yes sir?"

"Thanks for saving our asses."

"You're welcome sir. What were they?" he asked.

"Human but they were at the end of what might happen to us."

As they all got onto the birds Amy and the "changed" Archangel had knocked out were sedated by the medics.

….

Dr Hammond had never had her sickbay so busy. Archangel and the other survivors picked up by Cyanide were all being looked after there. Luckily the Medstar was looking after the other survivors that had been found at the other three Olympus sites. She sat in her office waiting for the results of the tests she had run on them. She yawned and rubbed her eyes before taking a sip from her coffee. Dr Joseph Green walked into her office.

"Are you okay Christine?" he asked.

"Yeah it's just been a long couple of days." She replied.

"I have the results of the tests."

"And?"

"Some good some bad. There is a compound in the atmosphere, plant and water samples that we've never seen before. It has an effect on the human brain that we have seen. The compound seems to come from the plant life and when it's in the water it is intensified, hence when they drank the water it seemed to accelerate faster than the trace amounts that were in the air. As soon as Major Hunter and the others began to breath clean air the effects began to reverse themselves. Unfortunately when the effects get to the violent stage then it is too late, the damage has been done. Captain Wesson should remain in sickbay for a few days until all her symptoms have reversed but everyone else can be released."

"What should we do with Ensigns Jessop? He's been sedated since Archangel knocked him out." Hammond asked.

"There's not much we can do for him other than keep him sedated and as comfortable as possible."

….

Newly sworn in Vice President Natasha Cobb walked through Orion for the first time in her new job. The president despite being stable was going to be out of action for a while so any honeymoon period would end before it even started. Moments later she found herself being led into the commander's quarters. Garrett, Rae, Archangel and doctors Hammond and Green stood waiting for her.

"Madame Vice President." Garrett said as she walked in.

"Please everyone sit down." Natasha replied, "My aide filled me in on everything that has happened. First how is the salvage mission of the Olympus coming?"

"Very well ma'am we should be ready to move on by the morning." Colonel Rae replied.

"Excellent. The Quorum has been asking for the president to be moved to the Medstar." Natasha said.

"Moving the president at this stage would be incredibly unwise," Hammond said, "I would consider it when he is more stable but not at the moment."

"I'll inform them." Natasha replied, "Now as for what happened on the planet, what should we do about the people who are still down there, those who have been changed, is there anything we can do to help them?"

"Nothing at all. Those who are still down there, from the remaining crew of the Pandora and the Olympus they're both at what appears to be the end stage and from what we can tell there is no way for it to be reversed when it is that far along." Dr Green said.

"I was told it was an element or compound that we have never seen before?" Natasha asked.

"That's true, there is nothing like that on the colonies," Hammond said, "We've called it Pandora."

"So do we just leave them there?" Rae said.

"I for one have been thinking about that." Archangel said. All eyes turned to him, "If I knew I was going to end up like that I wouldn't want to end up in this condition for the rest of my life."

"So what are you suggesting Major?" Natasha replied.

"We level the Pandora wreckage and all four sites where they landed. Hit them with enough explosives to put them out of their misery."

"You mean murder them?" Dr Green exclaimed.

"No I mean euthanasia them," Archangel replied, "Put yourself in their position."

"And what about Ensign Jessop?" Natasha asked.

"What kind of life is he going to have locked in a room on the Medstar drugged out of his mind, no contact with anyone, no rational thought for as long as he lives. Put yourself in his position, I know what I would prefer." Archangel said.

"You cannot do that it's murder," Green said, "Madame Vice President, Commander Garrett you cannot even consider this."

Both Natasha and the commander looked at each other.

"This is wrong, what will the people of the fleet say?" Dr Green said.

"Dr Green first and foremost anything that we discus in this room stays in this room. This is privilege information and if any of it gets out to the fleet then you will find yourself in the brig," Garrett replied, "I have to say that what Major Hunter is suggesting would be the kind thing to do."

"No commander it is not, murder is murder no matter what Major Hunter wraps it up as." Dr Green said.

"Madame Vice President what do you think?" Garrett asked.

Natasha sighed, this was not the kind of decision she had expected she would have to be making on her first day.

"To be honest I just don't know," she replied, "Both arguments are valid."

Garrett could tell by the look on Natasha's face that she did not know how to react to this situation, or what to do.

"Madame Vice President this whole thing has been a military mission, I'll take it out of your hands." Garrett said.

Natasha had to stop herself from giving a sigh of relief, "Very well commander. Whichever choice you make I will support completely."

"I am inclined to agree with Major Hunter." Garrett replied.

"So what you're going to go and put a bullet in Ensign Jessop's head or smother him with a pillow?" Dr Green said.

"Dr Green your opinion has been noted." Garrett said.

"So who is going to kill him?" Green snapped.

There was silence for a moment.

"I'll do it," Archangel said, "Dr Hammond if I can have some morpha I'll help him."

"Of course." Dr Hammond replied.

"I'll also organise a strike team for the planets surface."

"Thank you Major. I just want to say before we disband that everything we spoke of and all information is privileged, no one else can know." Garrett replied looking at Green.

As everyone got up to leave Garrett put her hand on Archangel's arm.

"Can you wait a moment I need to speak to you."

"Of course." He replied.

Archangel sat back down as everyone left.

"Thank you for what you volunteered to do." Garrett said.

"It's not a problem. Is everything okay?" he replied.

"My father is still out there. Chances are we will never run into him but if we do we will have a problem." Garrett said.

"I had thought as much." Archangel replied.

"You've seen what he's capable of. If he got his hands on a civilian fleet then there's no telling what he would do with them."

"We won't let it get that far. All you need to remember is when you need to just say the word and any problem can be ended."

"I know."

"You know I'm always here if you need to talk, about your father, about anything."

"I'm sorry." She said.

"For what?" Archangel replied.

"For the way I've been acting towards you. For what I said yesterday. Things are just stressful and then when Grace appeared and everything else it was all just too much and I took it out on you."

"I understand, it's okay." He replied.

"How are things with you and Grace? Must be nice to have the woman you love come back from the dead."

Archangel paused, just long enough for Garrett to realise she may have said something wrong.

"Things are different. I have to be honest and say that all I wanted to do was see her again. When I did I felt a mixture of emotions the love I felt, the rage at other things. I'm not the same person I was on the colonies. But I do still love her but we'll have to see what could happen, lets face it right now she is sat under armed guard. Anyway things have changed since then."

"Like what?"

Archangel didn't reply straight away, he just looked at the commander, "Things."

They both sat in silence for a few moments.

"In another life." Garrett said.

Archangel smiled.

….

As Archangel walked into sickbay he tried not to think of what he had to do. He saw Bojay lying on a ventilator and walked over to his friend.

"I don't know if you can hear me. The things you do to get some time off. Well take your time and get yourself better."

As he turned he saw Dr Hammond waiting for him.

"Everything is ready Major." She said with sadness in her voice.

"Thank you." He replied as she handed him two needles full of morpha. Archangel took a deep breath and followed Hammond through to where Ensign Jessop was laying sedated. He didn't think about what he had to do, he took the needle and inserted it into the vein tap in the man's hand followed by the second one.

"I'm sorry." He said.

Moments later the heart monitor began to beep before it flat lined.

"Thank you doctor." He said as he walked out.

….

Three hours later Archangel walked down the flight deck holding his helmet in his hand. He had decided that what had to be done could be done by him alone. The chief had got a raptor ready for him. Missile batteries had been added to the small ship. Wedge walked up to him.

"Major." He said.

"Yes Wedge?" he replied.

"Let me take another raptor down to the surface and help you." He replied.

"Thank you for the offer but I'll do this by myself. But honestly thank you for the offer."

As he walked onto the raptor Hydra was sat at the ECO station.

"Everything is ready." She said.

"Thank you, you better head off I need to take off." Archangel replied.

"I'm coming with you." She replied.

"I can't even order you off this raptor can I?"

"No, you can't." she replied.

Archangel took his seat and the raptor and the raptor began to move off.

Nearly an hour later Archangel and Hydra arrived at the final site. The Pandora sat below them. He couldn't believe that after finding the Pandora one of the colonies biggest mysteries he was about to destroy it. Below he could see some people who had to succumb to what they were now calling the "Pandora effect". He took the safeties off the remaining missiles and fired. The explosion was massive, when it finished there was nothing left. The sides of valley had collapsed, covering what was left of the wreckage.

"Okay Jess, lets go home." He said.

….

The events of the last few days had taken its toll on him much as it had on everyone else. He found himself out side the door of Graces' new quarters. He exchanged brief pleasantries before he went inside. As the door shut Commander Garrett walked past and sighed as she saw Archangel walked into Grace's room.

"Are you okay?" Grace asked as he walked in.

"It's been tough couple of days." He replied sitting on her bed.

"I noticed." She replied sitting next to him.

"Thank you for saving Bojay's life."

"I didn't do it for thanks," she replied, "He's a good man and didn't deserve to die."

"Things are getting worse."

"We're in for some dark days ahead," Grace said, "But you have to have the bad as well as the good."


	17. The Twelve

Skeeter hadn't had a cigarette in nearly two weeks. The cravings were gone but he still sometimes found himself out of habit reaching for a pack that wasn't there. He sat on his bed on the Medstar waiting for his lift home. He couldn't wait to get away. His room on the hospital ship had been too quiet, but if he had shared a room with someone else he would probably have ended up with a snorer, so at least that issue had been avoided. He had been packed more or less since he had woken up. He had read so many books and magazine in the last two weeks, more books than he had read in ten years. Dark Day had been his favourite. He had seen the movie adaptation so had never bothered with the book, now he had read it he would probably never watch it again, the book had been so much better. He had managed to keep up to date with the fleet news as well with the talk radio and newsletters as well as from his visitors, he had certainly missed some interesting days.

As he let out a sigh Archangel walked into the room.

"Sorry I'm late. We have some new recruits and it's their first day." Archangel said.

"Don't worry about it." Skeeter replied with a laugh, "Take me home."

As Archangel picked up his friends bag a nurse walked in.

"Mr Kent good job you haven't left yet." The young woman said.

"You finally decided to take me up on that date yet?" Skeeter replied flashing a grin.

"Hardly, Dr Mills has asked me to give you these pain killers. Should your chest continue to give you any pain you can take two every four hours and they should help. When you've finished them if you're still hurting then come back and we'll give you another scan."

"Thank you," he replied taking the bottle of tablets from her, "And thank you for looking after me."

"You are very welcome, I don't want to see you back here." She said with a smile,

"Major Hunter?"

"Yes." He replied.

"One of our doctors has asked to speak with you, F deck in the secure wing." The nurse said.

"I'm behind schedule but I can try and get back this afternoon or this evening?" Archangel replied.

"Of course sir, I'll let him know."

….

Captain Amy "Streaker" Wesson stood outside the pilots briefing room trying to compose herself. She was the new training officer for new recruits. She had been on Orion for a week now and was taking her time to slide back into things. She had been the CAG aboard Olympus, now she was a squadron leader and she was actually pleased about it. She took one final deep breath and then walked into the training room with purpose.

"Attention on deck." She shouted as she walked in.

The eighteen new recruits stood to their feet. They all looked nervous, especially Jasper Vents. Amy stood looking at them as they all stood up looking back at her. None of them really knew what to do so they all kept standing.

"Please sit down." She said, "My name is Captain Amy Wesson, the pilots call me Streaker you call me sir. You now all have the honour of serving on the most advanced ship ever built by the colonial military and as far as we know the last. I do not care who you are, I do not care what you did before, I do not care where you came from you are all now mine. You are at the bottom of the food chain. When I give you an order no matter what it is you will follow it. I will only accept the best from you and your best is what I will get. Gods forbid if your best is not good enough I will kick your asses back to whatever ship you came from and you will not get the chance to come back aboard Orion. We are at war so I will be hard on you because I have to be. The fighter pilots on this ship even before the war were some of the best of the best, they have to give it 100% everyday because if they do not they will end up dead. Until you finish your training you will think I am a bitch, you will not like me at all but as soon as you finish, as soon as you join the fighter wing of the Battlestar Orion you will find out I am not so bad. Ensign Greg Wallace what is the name of your CAG?"

Ensign Wallace looked shocked to be chosen for a moment, like a rabbit in headlights, "Major Mark Hunter sir." He replied.

"Very good Ensign, learn the names of the squadron leaders as they are who you will directly report too every day." Amy said, "We will be heading down to the flight simulators this afternoon and you will get your first taste of what it is like to fly a viper Mk7."

….

Mr Caprica looked at himself in the mirror in his suite. He was wearing his best suit, when he had bought it two months before it had cost him nearly ten thousand cubits. It was made from the finest materials on the colonies and hand stitched and tailored to his exact measurements. It would probably be the last suit he would ever buy, at least it was the best. Despite being one of the richest men in the colonies before the attack, he and his wife had never been people who spent money for the sake of spending it. They had lived in a modest house with modest cars. They wanted their children to grow up living a life that wasn't dependant on vast amounts of money.

The door opened and in walked the man Mr Caprica trusted with everything, John Cavill, flanked by his personal bodyguards.

"Everyone is starting to arrive." John said.

"This should be fun." Mr Caprica replied.

Cavill gave a little laugh.

The room the Twelve met in was in the depths of the ship in an area, which wasn't often visited by other people. As Mr Caprica walked into the room the other members were already there and waiting for him.

"Good morning everyone." He said as he took his seat, "We have a lot to talk about and I'm sure you all have things you want to discuss."

"We've been discussing the recent activities of Orion," Miss Tauron said, "It appears they have been holding an awful lot back from the rest of the fleet." Before the attack Miss Tauron had been the wife of the largest crime family on Tauron. Her husband had been killed only a week before the attack and she had taken over. Even though she was in her mid sixties she was as feared as her husband had been. Stood behind her was her eldest son, another head of the family. He was one of the most intimidating men any of the twelve had ever seen. He had a reputation as a brutal killer and had been known to murder anyone who even questioned his mother.

"Yes there has," Mr Caprica replied, "The information we have comes from one of our sources aboard Orion."

"How accurate is this information?" Miss Tauron asked.

"Very, the source is high up and is privy to information not many others are." Mr Caprica replied.

"This Pandora effect the source mentioned sounds very interesting indeed." Mr Sagitarron said.

"It does and it appears they have samples of plant life, the water and oxygen samples as well." Mr Caprica replied.

"If we could get our hands on them then maybe we could turn them into some sort of bio weapon." Mr Sagitarron said.

Mr Arilon groaned, "I have to object to this potential course of action."

"What a surprise, the activist objects." Mr Sagitarron snapped back, "Remind us why are you here again."

"Enough," Mr Caprica snapped, "Need I remind you AGAIN that everyone's opinion around this table is as valid as yours."

Before the attack Mr Arilon had been the lead activist in the Arilon Farmer's Union. Fighting everyday for the rights of his people, who more often than not were treated poorly by the rest of the colonies. He stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the killers and gangsters and corrupt businessmen around him. Mr Caprica had chosen him for that very reason, should the day come when they NCO had to go public he would be the perfect public face for their organisation, a peaceful, well respected man who was known throughout the colonies.

"Mr Arilon please continue." Mr Caprica added.

"I thought we were brought together to bring freedom to this fleet. We know what the military is capable of and the new president had too much in common with Adar, but biological weapons, with all due respect we're not the SFM, we're not terrorists."

"I have to say while I understand where your sensibilities come from Mr Aerilon, Mr Sagitarron's idea is one that we should at least discuss." Miss Tauron replied, "If we want to even hope to remove the people on Orion this could be the only way."

"It's mass murder." Mr Arilon replied.

"I think we should at least look into getting those samples, so then at least we can have it as an option. At the very least when we take over the fleet we can use it as a potential weapon against the Cylons. We vote, who thinks we should ask our source on Orion to look into what it would take to get hold of these samples?" Mr Caprica asked.

Everyone, except for Mr Arilon raised his or her hand.

"Okay I'll make contact with our source." Mr Caprica replied.

….

Archangel walked through the Medstar. The former Columbia class Battlestar was a throw back to the last war. He liked the simplicity of it all. As he walked onto the secure wing he was met by Dr Christian Gerrard.

"Major thank you for coming, I know you are a busy man." Gerrard said shaking Archangel's hand.

"Not a problem, what can I do for you?"

"Please come to my office so we can talk." The doctor replied.

They both walked the short distance to the cluttered office. Both men sat down.

"We have a patient here who I would like you to speak too. She has been here since we left the colonies. Since she heard that you had joined the fleet she has been asking to speak with you. Part of her delusion is that she thinks she is your sister." Gerrard said.

"What? I don't have a sister. I had a brother before the attack."

"This is why I would like you to speak to her, I hope that when you tell her this it may go some way to helping her. I also want to perform a DNA test so that when she sees the result there will hopefully be no way that she can carry this on."

"Of course." He replied.

Gerrard picked up the phone on his desk, "Please can you bring Miss Spence to my office."

Minutes later the door to the small office opened and in walked a blonde woman in her mid twenties. When she saw Archangel she dashed over to him and hugged him.

"Thank the gods you came." She said with tears in her eyes.

She wiped her eyes and sat down next to him.

"Carrie this is Major Hunter, could you please tell him what you have been telling me?" Gerrard asked.

"I know you don't know me but I know all about you. Before I was born our father, Galen Hunter and my mother had an affair. They broke it off amicably and then my mother found out she was pregnant with me. She never had any intention of telling your mother. Dad looked after her even though they weren't together, he gave her money so she didn't have to worry about anything and would always spend time with me when he was able. When I left college he gave me a job as a PA to one of his companies Vice Presidents. He told me about you and our brother but told me that I could never contact you or tell you who I was. When I heard you were in the fleet I decided that I had to meet you as I didn't think it mattered anymore. I was with my boss Stephen Singer and when he found out I wanted to get in touch with you he put me in here."

Archangel looked at her as she spoke and she believed what she was saying, he could tell that she hadn't been lying, but if she was delusional as Gerrard had been telling her, she would think it was the truth. He looked in her eyes and couldn't help but think they looked just like his brother's.

"Major Hunter has agreed to a DNA test so we can prove this matter one way or the other."

"Thank you." She replied taking hold of his hand.

"You're welcome." He replied.

Dr Gerrard took their samples before heading off to begin the processing.

"I hope you believe me." She said when they were alone.

"I know that you're not lying," Archangel replied, "When humans lie they do little things that give themselves away. I look at you and I see me and Illum."

"I'm not crazy, no matter what he or anyone else says. I've been begging him for months to ask you to see me and he wouldn't."

"It's okay, I'm here now." He replied.

"So when the DNA test comes back, if it says that we are brother and sister, what happens then?" she asked.

"We get you out of here so you can start living your life again."

….

Bojay tried to sit up in his bed in Orion's sickbay. Everything hurt, while it wasn't as bad as it had been it still felt like a truck had hit him. He smiled when he saw Kate walk over to him. They had been seeing each other since he had rescued her from Caprica.

"Hey." She said.

"Hey. You been here long?" Bojay asked.

"About an hour." She replied.

"I'm sure you have places you'd rather be." He said.

"Don't be stupid," she replied, "When I was on the Medstar after you rescued me you came to visit me every day. Anyway it's nice to be able to see you so much, just a shame this is how it happened." She gave him a kiss.

"So what's the gossip from the fleet?" he asked.

"Honestly not much. No cylon or NCO activity, the fleet is just plodding along as usual."

"At least I'm not missing all the fun." He replied with a smile.

"Nope, no fun being missed at all." She replied.

….

Meetings of the Twelve never went as smoothly as Mr Caprica hoped they would. Mr Sagitarron was often the instigator of an argument. He felt it was his own fault asking the terrorist to take the position.

"Next order of business, we have received a copy of the star charts and the positions of all the planets that the Olympus surveyed," Mr Caprica said, "We're going to have them studied for the endgame to our plan."

"I don't mean to be a party pooper but won't they be the first places they come looking for us?" Miss Libran asked.

"When we decide on a planet and we have initiated the final phase then the information about the planet will be purged from all of Orion's systems. Unless someone memorised them they won't be able to find us. Anyway when we do leave them we won't go straight there. We give them enough time to search all the planets so even if they do go there they'll be long gone before we get there." Mr Caprica answered.

"What is the status of the ships that we have control of?" Mr Aquaria asked.

"We have control of 17 ships and that is confirmed." Mr Caprica replied.

"Is there any chance of getting control of a military vessel?" Mr Sagitarron asked.

"As of now no. We don't have enough people on any of the ships to take them over. We had a raptor pilot who had shown interest in our cause but we haven't heard from them since the set back on the planet last month. I'll ask our source aboard Orion to see how recruitment is going." Mr Caprica replied, "But irrelevant of whether or not we have them our time table remains the same. Before we move on does anyone have any business they would like to discuss?"

"I do." Mr Sagitarron said.

This didn't surprise Mr Caprica or any of the others at all, he always had something he wanted to add.

"Go ahead." Mr Caprica said.

"As you all know I was picked up from Sagitarron after our camp had been attacked by Cylons. What you may not know is that the people who were responsible for the Cylons finding us are here in the fleet and I want your permission to bring them to justice." He said.

"May I ask what your version of justice is?" Miss Tauron asked.

"They killed 67 of my friends, good people who had done nothing to them except give them shelter, I want them dead." Mr Sagitarron replied.

"Is it someone the fleet will miss?" Miss Tauron asked.

All eyes were on Mr Sagitarron, he took a deep breath before he replied, "Major Hunter and Sergeant Vannick from the Battlestar Orion, plus Mike Kent a civilian and the Cylon that Orion is currently harbouring."

Mr Caprica tried not to look as shocked as he felt, he kept his composure, "You cannot be serious? They're too high profile you would bring far too much attention to us. We're trying to make the people of this fleet think we are their saviours, we cannot go around killing people like this for petty vengeance."

"Really? Petty vengeance, this wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that Major Hunter is your son would it?" Mr Sagitarron replied.

On that bombshell all attention was now turned to Mr Caprica. Only a hand full of people in the room knew who he actually was, or so he thought.

Mr Caprica took a deep breath before he replied, "Do you want to know about MY son?" he replied, "Aside from being the youngest CAG in the history of the Colonial military he is also a highly trained assassin."

This did come as a shock to the Twelve.

"If you go after Mike Kent, his best friend and the other people you mentioned and you fail to take him out he will hunt you down, he will hunt us all down and the last thing any of us ever see will be him before he kills us."

"But you're his father, you would be safe." Mr Sagitarron replied.

"My son has no idea who I am, he has no idea of the things I've done and if he ever found out that I left his mother and brother to die on the colonies when the attack happened I guarantee you my death would be worse than any of yours. And before any of you stick out your chests and beat them with your fists you need to know that not one person in this room has what it takes to stop him, not your sons." He said pointing to Miss Tauron's son, "Not your terrorists," he said pointing at Mr Sagitarron, "No amount of guns or bombs will stop him. If you knew the list of people he has killed in the name of freedom, if you knew the ways and means he kills people with, you wouldn't even be thinking of doing this. If this happens, if you all agree to this then it is the last time any of you will see me and our plans end now because he may be my son and yes I love him but he is the single most terrifying killing machine that I have ever laid eyes on."

The room fell into silence, even Mr Sagitarron seemed lost for words at this. Mr Caprica hadn't exaggerated, he had told them the simple truth, now he needed to see if his words had fallen on deaf ears.

"So you can vote, those who think Mr Sagitarron should be able to carry out his plan, raise your hand." Mr Caprica said.

The room once again fell silent, no one raised their hand, no one spoke, everyone seemed to have heard what he had to say.

"Then I'm sorry Mr Sagitarron but your permission for…. Vengeance is denied."

….

Carrie Spence had led a comfortable life. She had lived in a nice home with a loving mother and had wanted for nothing all her life. Then on the day the Cylons attacked everything began to fell apart. This was the first time since she had last seen her mother that she had smiled. As she sat opposite the man she knew was her brother suddenly her life felt as though it could move forward again. She hoped he believed her, if she had been religious as her mother was she would have prayed as well. When Mark Hunter smiled at her she felt as though he did believe, she felt as though she could smile again. The last few months had been like a nightmare, no one had believed her, they told her she was crazy, delusional and she hated the fact that at times she had thought they might be right, maybe she had been making it up. As the office door opened Dr Gerrard walked back in holding a folder.

"Sorry it took so long, I wanted to be totally sure that the results were correct before I came back." He said.

"Well?" Archangel asked.

"You are brother and sister, there is no question." Gerrard said.

Carrie smiled as a tear rolled down her cheek. Archangel took hold of her hand.

"This will be a great help in treating you Carrie and getting you well again." Gerrard said.

"What?" Carrie said.

"Dr Gerrard Carrie is coming with me, there is nothing wrong with her. You were told a lie and you bought it." Archangel said.

Carrie held tightly onto her brothers hand.

"I must insist that she remains here." Gerrard said.

"You can insist all you want. Please go get her things so I can take her back to Orion." Archangel said standing up.

Gerrard pressed a button on the bottom of his desk and seconds later two marines came through the door. Carrie stood next to her brother still holding tightly to his hand.

"Private Henry please take Miss Spence back to her room and escort Major Hunter to the flight deck immediately." Gerrard said.

"Belay that. Private do you know who I am?" Archangel asked.

"Yes sir." Henry replied.

"You are going to send you man to get my sisters things and bring them back here so that I can take Carrie back to Orion. You are going to keep Dr Gerrard in his office until we get off the ship and you will not let him make any calls at all." Archangel ordered.

"West go get Miss Spence's things and bring them back here immediately." Henry said, "Dr Gerrard I must insist you remain in your office and keep your hands on your desk where I can see them."

"Thank you." Archangel replied.

Ten minutes later Archangel was flying his raptor out of the Medstar's port flight pod. Carrie sat next to him.

"You okay?" he asked.

She nodded her head, "Are you going to get into trouble for that?"

"Nah, when I explain what happened it'll all be fine." Archangel replied.

"So what now?" she asked.

"For what?" Archangel replied.

"Me, where do I go from here?"

"You forget about the last few months and start to build your life again. You'll be safe on Orion. You're away from Dr Gerrard and trust me Stephen Singer will never even catch sight of you again and we get to know each other."

She smiled at the last part, "Thank you for saving me."

As the Raptor came to a halt on Orion's flight deck Commander Garrett was waiting for Archangel. As the hatch opened Archangel could tell from the look on the Commander's face that she had heard from Dr Gerrard had already spoken to her.

"Commander I would like to introduce you to my sister, Carrie Spence." Archangel said.

This surprised Garrett and her expression gave her away, clearly whatever the doctor had told her about Archangel taking a patient hadn't included who she was.

"Very pleased to meet you Carrie." Garrett said.

"Likewise." Carrie replied shaking her hand.

"Can I borrow your brother for a few minutes?" Garrett asked.

"Of course." Carrie replied.

"Wedge." Garrett shouted.

"Yes ma'am." He replied.

"Can you show Miss Spence here the hanger deck for a few minutes." Garrett asked.

"Of course."

Garrett grabbed hold of Archangel's wrist and dragged him into one of the decks many tool rooms.

"What the frak is going on?" Garrett asked, "I've just had some doctor on the horn screaming about how you took one of his patients from the locked ward against his will."

"I assume that he missed out the part about who she was?" Archangel said.

"Yes he did. What the frak happened?"

"He called me over to talk to me. He said that he had a patient who claimed to be my long lost sister, that she was crazy and I was part of her delusion." Archangel said, "For some reason her boss dumped her on the Medstar when she found out I was in the fleet and wanted to get in touch with me. Turns out after a DNA test that she is my sister, we have the same dad and everything she said was true. She's not crazy and I'm not leaving her on that ship."

"Okay." Garrett said, "I'll tell this doctor that Carrie is staying on Orion. Her boss, the one who had her locked up."

"What about him?" Archangel replied.

"Am I going to get called about a mysterious death?" Garrett replied bluntly.

"If you do it'll be nothing to do with me." Archangel replied.

….

Bojay sat on the side of his bed taking slow deep breaths. He was determined to stand up under his own strength. He expected a lot of pain when he stood up, it had taken him twenty minutes to get from sitting up in bed to being able to get to this position. He braced his hands on the side of the bed and stood up. The pain was excruciating but he managed to stay standing up. He looked around and saw Kate stood talking to the doctor in her office. He braced himself again and took a small step forward followed by another and another, before he knew it he was half way across the room. Kate and the doctor hadn't seen him until he was at the office door and they both seemed startled to see him. They both jumped up.

"My gods Bojay what the frak are you doing?" the doctor asked as they both rushed over to him.

"Hey I'm fine, I was just heading for the head." He replied pointing to the toilet.

"You should have called for us we would have come and helped you." Kate replied.

"Yeah that's why I didn't. What were you two chatting about anyway?" he asked.

"Nothing important." Kate replied.

"Fair enough. Hey the way things are progressing I'll be able to go home before you know it." Bojay replied with his usual cocky smile.

….

As the meeting of the twelve came to a close some members of the group began to leave. Miss Tauron and her son came over to Mr Caprica.

"Galen we need to talk." She said.

"Of course Adriana." He replied.

They both sat back down as Miss Tauron's son closed the door.

"Mr Sagitarron concerns me." She said.

"I know what you mean. I seriously regret not heeding your concerns about him before I asked him to join us." He replied.

"We've known each other for fifteen years, if I had a cubit for every time you've said that I'd be richer than you." She replied.

They both gave a little laugh.

"Joking aside I worry that he will go against us and seek vengeance anyway." She said.

"We'll have to keep an eye on him."

"I will send one of my boys if that is agreeable?" she replied.

"Of course. Listen I wanted to say to you that if anything should happen to me I need to know that you will take control of the group. There would undoubtedly be a power struggle but I've instructed my aide John to help you in any way."

"Of course but lets make sure that never happens."

The door opened again and 1 walked in.

"Sorry to interrupt but I thought you would want to know. I've just received word our new asset is in play aboard Orion." He said.

….

Carrie stood alone in the memorial corridor aboard Orion. She stood looking at the picture of her brother with his mother, their brother and their father. They seemed happy in the picture. Their father was smiling in a way she had never seen before, he looked truly happy. She looked down at the picture in her hand of her mother. Despite the visits she often had from her father growing up and she saw him most days at work she had always thought of her mother as her only family. As she pinned the picture to the wall Archangel appeared next to her.

"Is that your mother?" he asked.

She nodded her head, "Yeah."

"You look a lot like her."

"I can see myself in Illum and you as well."

"So can I. I'm sorry I didn't get to you sooner." He said.

Carrie took hold of his hand, "There's no reason to be sorry, you didn't know. I'm here now."

"Are your quarters okay?" he asked.

"Yes thank you. Everyone I've met seems nice as well."

"There are some things I need to tell you before you hear them from someone else, lets go get a drink."

When they reached the pilots rest area they sat on a table by themselves, Archangel handed her a glass of whiskey and sat next to her. He took a sip from his drink before he spoke.

"When I was on Sagitarron, before Orion found us there was a woman. Her name is Grace and for the first time in my life I found myself in love. She was shot and killed by Cylons just before we got to Caprica. I thought she was dead and it turns out she's a Cylon. I didn't know till much later and now she's here, on this ship."

"Does anyone else know she's a Cylon?" Carrie asked.

"Everyone does. She's turned her back on her people and she has been helping us to prove that she's on our side."

"Are you still with her?"

Archangel took another sip from his drink, "Things are different now. It's harder. But I suppose the answer is yes."

"Thank you for telling me." Carrie said.

They both sat in silence for what seemed like forever.

"I don't think any less of you." Carrie said.

Archangel let out a little laugh, "Thank you."

"We all have our secrets and things that other people wouldn't understand." She said.

….

Stephen Singer had lived a life he had loved. He had worked for one of the biggest companies in all the colonies, money was no problem, he lived a life that most people would kill for. That was before the fall, before things changed. The company he had helped Galen Hunter to build wasn't as innocent as the rest of the colonies thought, he had done things and ordered things that in the past week had begun to haunt him. His life on the Starburst had been good as well, then he started to feel as though he was being watched. The paranoia had grown quickly and in the short space of a week he felt like he was one step away from insanity. Things in his suite that weren't where he had left them, he knew that someone had been coming in when he was out. He had thought he had seen faces that he knew he couldn't have. People he didn't know making comments to him as they passed him by. Then the notes had begun, simple notes that said things like "I know" or "They're coming". The heavy breathing phone calls late at night.

He hadn't left his suite in three days, he had sat in the same chair with a revolver in one hand and a bottle in the other. Sleep came and so did the dreams, dreams of the people he had double-crossed and Carrie Spence, the girl he had convinced everyone that she was crazy. He was startled from his whiskey induced haze by a knock at the door.

"Who is it?" he yelled.

There was no answer, just another knock. He took another sip from the bottle and put it down before staggering over to the door. When it opened he fell backwards in shock, in front of him stood Carrie, she smiled before walking in, closing the door behind her.

"Hello Stephen, it's been a while." She said.

He scrambled backwards and turned for the chair where he had left his gun. He stopped when he saw Archangel sitting there with the gun in his hand. How had he got in here?

"Carrie listen, I'm sorry." He stammered, terrified.

"Sorry?" Carrie replied with a laugh, "Sorry isn't good enough for what you put me through. Why? Why did you do that to me?" she asked.

"I had to keep you from finding your brother, I had to keep you from finding out about your father."

"What about our father?" Archangel replied as he unloaded the bullets from the revolver.

"The things he had done, the things his company did. He never wanted either of you to know." Stephen replied.

Archangel loaded one of the rounds back into the gun and threw it onto the floor a couple of steps away from Stephen.

"Are you going to kill me?" he stammered.

"No," Carrie replied, "We're not murderers."

"He is." He replied pointing to Archangel.

"Did you hear about what happened on that planet where we found the Olympus survivors?" Archangel asked.

Stephen nodded, "Yes, the virus that had turned them into monsters, driven them insane."

"Been feeling paranoid?" Carrie asked, "Been seeing people who aren't there?"

"You infected me! How? When?" Stephen replied.

"When someone goes to as many bars as you do it's so simple to spike that person's drink." Carrie said with a smile.

"Did you hear what the effects of the Pandora effect?" Archangel asked.

He nodded his head in terror.

"Sounds to me like you're not far away from the final phase." He said.

"Then you get to spend the rest of your days sedated and locked away on the Medstar, kind of poetic don't you think?" Carrie said.

"There has to be away to stop it, please I'll do anything," he said dropping to his knees in tears, "Please." He said reaching out to Carrie.

"Please? Isn't that what I said to you? And what did you do, you ignored me, you left me. I think I'll return the favour." She said as both she and her brother turned for the door.

"At least kill me." He yelled.

"No, you don't deserve mercy and like I said, we're NOT killers." Carrie said before walking out the door.

Archangel turned to him, "I left you the only help you're going to get." He said as he pointed to the gun before closing the door behind him.

As Carrie and Archangel walked away they heard the sound of a single gunshot ring out behind them.

….

Skeeter couldn't believe his luck. The cards he held in his hands had beyond a shadow of a doubt won him the huge pot. He had missed the triad games in the Delphi bar and it looked like his luck was returning. As the others around the table put their cards down Skeeter smiled before putting his down.

"Full colours gentlemen, looks like getting shot in the chest brought me my luck back." He said with a laugh as he picked up his cubits.

"Yeah we had heard about you getting shot on that planet, gods dam NCO right?"

Skeeter looked up and smiled, "Dam right." He replied.

Mr Sagitarron who was sat opposite him smiled, "But you have to remember my friend, there's always time to get revenge."


	18. Blood for Blood

24 DAYS AFTER THE FALL

Fred Richards sat in amongst the survivors of the SFM camp. He had managed to save thirty-three people from the Cylons. He had tried to get that fraking pilot who had blown their base to hell after he had found Asher's body but the chaos had been too much. The screams of his friends would haunt him for the rest of his life. How they had all managed to escape from all those Cylons, maybe the gods had been looking out for them after all.

"What are we going to do?" Joanna Horne asked.

Fred suddenly realised she was talking to him and everyone was looking over at him.

"I don't know." He replied, "We have to find somewhere we can hold up, somewhere we can defend."

"What the frak happened? One minute everything was fine then those explosions." She said.

"It was the pilot and his fraking friends. They killed Asher and then lit the place up to make their escape. The Cylons had no problem finding us after that." Fred replied.

"Do you think he knew? That it was an SFM base." She asked.

"I'm sure of it. I hope we catch up with the frakers, I'll beat them to death."

Suddenly they could hear movement from behind them. Fred and some of the others took up defensive positions. He hoped, if they were Cylons, there weren't many of them. He knew they didn't have enough ammunition for a prolonged firefight. Moments later a group of Colonial marines appeared in front of them, they lowered their weapons when they saw the survivors.

"My name is Corporal Jennings from the Battlestar Orion, we're here to rescue you."

"Thank you," Fred said walking up to the young marine and shaking his hand, "We were hit badly last night, lost over sixty people. You just saved our lives.

PRESENT DAY

Fred Richards had come a long way since Sagitarron, he now went by the name Mr Sagitarron. His plan for revenge was finally beginning to take shape. He wiped the blood off his hand as he looked down at his prisoner. Skeeter sat tied to a chair, bloody and bruised.

"You may as well just kill me because there is no way I'm going to let you use me to get my friends here." Skeeter said.

"I don't need you to let me do anything Mr Kent, you just being here is enough to get your friends here. The only reason they're not already here is because I wanted some time alone with you first. Do you know what it's like to watch your friends bleed to death in front of you while there is nothing at all you can do to save them?"

"Yes I do." He replied.

"Really? Tell me." Mr Sagitarron asked.

"My friend Danny, I'd looked after him his entire life. He was literally torn apart by a centurion and he died bleeding to death, choking on his own blood in my arms so yeah I know how you feel."

"Did you cause his death?" Mr Sagitarron asked.

"No."

"Because you and your friends caused the deaths of all of my friends. Let me tell you that if you are very lucky you'll die choking on your own blood." Mr Sagitarron replied before leaving the room.

….

Jasper Vents had underestimated how tough this training was going to be. As he looked at himself in the mirror he wondered if he was going to be strong enough to finish this. He looked around the shower room at the other new recruits and wondered if they were feeling the same way. He picked up his shaving bag turned and walked into one of the biggest men he had ever seen in his life.

"Sorry." He said.

"Excuse me?" the man replied.

"I said I'm sorry." And moved to walk around the man who stood in the way. Jasper looked up at the man who was looking down at him with a look that terrified him.

"While all you new recruits are here I want you to listen up. My name is Jawbreaker and I'm squadron leader of green wing. Should any of you make it through your training and make it into my squadron then well the frak done. But before then while you're nuggets you better watch yourselves. This ship is the one thing keeping the Cylons from totally wiping out the human race and we are very proud of what we do and of each other. Should any of you bring embarrassment to us and to this ship and it doesn't matter who the frak you are you'll find out why I got my call sign," he leaned towards Jasper, "Watch yourself cos if you don't you better sleep with one fraking eye open, do you understand me?"

Jasper nodded.

"I asked if you UNDERSTOOD ME?" Jawbreaker replied.

"Yes sir." He said.

….

Carrie had been getting back into running. Living on a ship like Orion helped that. The ship was four miles long from top to toe, the corridors wound around so much that it made the run interesting. She had been given free reign of the ship except for one or two key areas but they were parts of the ship she had no interest in anyway.

"Hey aren't the new recruits supposed to be on the flight deck?" a voice said.

Carrie stopped and turned to see a pilot talking to her.

"If you say so, but as I'm not a new recruit that doesn't really have any effect on me." She replied.

"You new to Orion?" the young man asked.

"Yeah I've been here a couple of days, Carrie Spence." She said holding out her hand.

"Max Grant but everyone calls me Temper."

"Temper?" she asked.

"Yeah it's from when I was a nugget and it's exactly what you think. But don't worry I'm a lot calmer now." He said with a smile, "So what are you doing on Orion?"

"Running," she replied with a laugh, "I just met my brother for the first time and he brought me here."

"Wow, who's your brother?"

"Mark Hunter, Archangel." She replied with a smile.

The smile left Temper's face a little as he became a little nervous, "It was lovely to meet you, I err, I need to get ready for the CAP."

"Nice to meet you too." She replied as the pilot walked away.

This was a little confusing and it had happened a couple of times now. She thought that it must be because he was their boss. She sighed before turning and running again.

….

Skeeter's face hurt. He'd been punched before, he'd been in more fights than he could count but this was something else. What annoyed him more than anything else was how often he was getting hurt these days. As soon as he seemed to recover from one thing then something else happened after that. He spat a mouthful of blood onto the ground before looking up at Fred or Mr Sagitarron, or whatever the frak he wanted to call himself.

"So I think you've earned a break my friend. You know I'm impressed, you should have done right by your people and joined the SFM, we could have used more people like you."

Skeeter laughed, "I'm not a terrorist. You're all the same, STO, SFM, NCO, just people who want attention. Killing in the name of freedom well guess what our colony got freedom along time ago."

"That's what the government wanted you to think."

"No that's the truth it's just people like you had got a taste for killing in the name of freedom. You're just fraking terrorists plain and simple."

"We were freedom fighters."

"Well you know how the saying goes, one mans freedom fighter is another mans terrorist. It's people like you who gave our home the bad reputation it had."

Fred punched Skeeter again. Skeeter let out a little laugh.

"You know when I was recovering from being shot in the chest I read a lot, more than I've read in my entire life and I found a book of poetry, my friend Bria gave me it and there was this one poem by a woman from Canceron, Claire Thompson I think her name was and not only does it apply to you, it applies to what's going on right now. _Scrambled tongues, Distrusting mouths, Breed contempt and fear, Submerged eyes Hold such grace within conflict Till nights end, Dreamers once lost in the innocence of night Return in realities wake, Morn the loss of peace, Morn the life of humanity.  
By definition that which should be kind, only strangles itself with breath, Whilst the babes of the world lie unaware in there cribs, Unknowing of the harsh fate that awaits.  
Once of age they will be sent to fight, But To fight only themselves, Humanity awaits beyond there confines, Humanity infects us all, Humanity that breads sufferance, Humanity that educates war, Humanity that is kind_. I think it's beautiful, it's almost like she knew what was going to happen when she wrote it."

"You're quoting poetry now?" Frank laughed.

"I just thought it was apt. There isn't enough beauty left in the world any more and it takes my mind of what you're going to do to me and my friends."

"Let's talk about your friends. Tell me about the mighty Major Mark Hunter?" Fred asked.

"What do you want to know?" Skeeter replied.

"Is he as bad ass as everyone says?"

"You have no idea. If an army of 7ft robot monsters couldn't stop him what makes you think you can? You don't stand a chance. Even if you capture him and tie him to a chair like this, no matter what you think, no matter how much of an upper hand you think you've got, when he's ready he'll kill you. I've seen it before and the people who were doing it last time were a lot tougher than you guys."

"Wow that's impressive, I very much look forward to meeting him. You have a lot of faith in him."

"He got me this far."

"That he did. Anyway I'll leave you with your Canceron poetry while I go make a call." He said patting Skeeter on the shoulder.

As he left the room he was met by Joanna Horne.

"We have control of this deck as well as the two above it and below it. I stationed men at all the areas you said, I think we're ready."

"Are you sure you're prepared for this? This could end up with us all dead, I'm giving you the option now of walking away."

"What? Why would you think I would want to do that?" she asked him.

"Because you're the only thing keeping me sane, I love you and the thought of you walking away and having a life after this is a good one." Fred said.

"I love you too and no matter what we're in this together. Lets face it now we're doing this our number is up. If we're successful and the military don't kill us the NCO will. Lets just make sure we kill those frakers first."

Frank kissed her on the forehead. They both walked into one of the nearby rooms where a radio set waited for them.

"We've managed to single out a channel directly to Orion, when you speak they'll hear you." Joanna said.

….

Commander Garrett stood on Orion's CIC looking over some star charts. These were the next few systems they would have to go through, it looked straight forward enough, nowhere for any Cylons to hide, plain sailing.

"Commander Garrett can you hear me?" Fred's voice came over the com.

Garrett looked over at Lieutenant Taylor who looked as confused as she did.

"It's broadcasting directly to the CIC, I can't shut it off." Taylor said.

"Commander I know you're there." He said again.

Garrett picked up a hand set.

"This is Garrett, who am I speaking too?"

"Ah Commander I was beginning to think you were ignoring me. My name is Fred Richards."

"What do you want?" she asked.

"I see you're as direct as everyone said you were. What do I want? I want Major Hunter, Sergeant Vannick and the Cylon to get on a raptor and head to the Mussa Sala immediately, unarmed of course."

"And why the frak would I send them to you?" Garrett asked as she wrote "Get Archangel" onto a piece of paper and held it up for Lieutenant Taylor to see.

"Because I have his friend Mr Kent or Skeeter whichever you want to call him and if they don't come over here then I'll publicly execute him."

"What is this about? Why are you doing this?" Garrett asked.

"Vengance. On Sagitarron they murdered nearly seventy of my friends, now it's time they were avenged." He replied.

"You're from the SFM base?" Garrett said.

"Correct commander."

Archangel walked onto CIC, "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Is that Major Hunter I hear?" Fred asked.

"Yes it is." Garrett replied.

"Good I'm glad he's here to hear this part. Major say hello to your friend Skeeter."

"Don't come over here, it doesn't matter what happens to me just don't give into them." Skeeter yelled.

There was the sound of him being hit followed by a yell of pain.

"Major I suggest that you ignore your friend. If you, Vannick and the Cylon are not in the Mussa Sala in one hour then I will broadcast on all video screens your friend being burned alive. The choice is yours."

The line went dead.

"What the frak is that all about?" Archangel said.

"SFM survivors." She replied, "You can't go over there, they'll kill you."

"If I don't my best friend will be burned alive, there's no choice."

"I can order you." She said.

"And I can quit and go anyway. You'll just have to find away to get aboard the Mussa Sala and rescue us." He said with a smile, "I need you to tell Carrie what's going on but wait until after we leave Orion."

"Don't you think you should tell her?" Garrett replied.

"She's the only one who could talk me out of this and I can't let my best friend die."

….

"Frak me," Vannick said, "This is going to be bad."

"Yeah but Wedge and the XO are already working on a plan to get marines onboard and get to us," Archangel replied, "I'm sorry to have to ask you to do this but I can't let Skeeter die."

"I'm in," Grace said, "Like you said we can't let our friend die."

"What the hell," Vannick said, "Lets go be heroes."

All three of them got into the waiting raptor.

….

"Talk to me." Garrett said as she walked back onto the CIC.

"Getting people onto the Mussa Sala isn't going to be a problem," Wedge said, "We can shadow their dradis and there are so many blind spots on that ship that even one of the nuggets could land on it without being seen."

"What will be the problem?" Garrett asked.

"We don't know what we're walking into," Rae said, "Have they taken the entire ship or just part of it? How many of them are there etc."

"This is going to be a problem." Garrett replied.

"Ma'am I'm sorry to interupt but Jenna is onboard the Mussa Sala." Taylor said.

"Jenna?" Garrett replied.

"Hawkeye." Wedge replied.

"I was talking to her yesterday morning, she's definitely there." Taylor replied.

"Can you get in touch with her? On a totally secure line?" Rae asked.

"Yes Ma'am that's not a problem, no one will be able to listen except us."

"Do it." Garrett replied.

….

Jenna "Hawkeye" Riley lay in her quarters. She had been feeling better over the last week than she had in a while. Days like these almost made her forget her brain tumour. She stretched as she woke up. The phone next to her bed began to buzz.

"Hello." She said as she picked it up.

"Jenna it's Georgia." Lt Taylor said over the line

"Hey I thought you were on duty this morning." Hawkeye replied.

"I am, we have a situation, the commander would like to speak to you."

"Of course." Hawkeye replied sitting up.

"Jenna this is Commander Garrett I'm going to have to come straight to the point, do you feel well enough to help us with a situation aboard the Mussa Sala?"

"Yes Ma'am, what's happened?"

"Somewhere aboard the ship the remnants of the SFM have secured an area and are about to get their hands on Archangel, Vannick and a couple of others. I need you to find out where they are on the ship and report back to me."

"Of course," Hawkeye replied, "I'll get back to you as quickly as I can."

"Thank you. Just be carefull and don't do anything rash."

"Yes ma'am."

As Hawkeye put the phone down and got out of bed. She walked over to her bag on the sofa and took out her old sidearm before checking it was loaded.

"This should be fun." She said with a smile.

….

"I'll try and keep them occupied for as long as I can manage." Archangel said as he flew the raptor towards the Mussa Sala, "Hopefully I can buy enough time either for you guys to escape or for the marines to come get us."

"Do you think Skeeter is still alive?" Vannick asked.

"Yeah they need to keep him incase we don't come. By now they should have us on dradis so they know we're coming." Archangel said.

"Fraking SFM, I hate terrorists shame we didn't manage to kill them all back on Sagitarron." Grace said.

"Certainly would have saved a lot of trouble." Vannick replied.

As they landed in one of the Mussa Sala's hangerbays they could see the ten armed men waiting for them. Archangel powered down the raptor and turned to his friends.

"I'm sorry that I didn't deal with them probably when I had the chance." Archangel said.

"Lets just get this over with." Vannick said.

Archangel took hold of Grace's hand.

"I love you." He said to her. He hadn't said those three words out loud to her for so long. She smiled at him.

"I love you too." She replied kissing him.

As the side hatch opened Archangel led the way with his hands raised.

"I want to see my friend, immediately." Archangel said.

Before he had the chance to react one of the man hit him across the head with the butt of his rifle, knocking him out cold.

….

As Carrie walked onto the CIC for the first time she couldn't believe how impressive it was. It was nothing like she had imagined. She couldn't help but wonder what she had been called there for. Commander Garrett walked over to her.

"Carrie we need to talk." Garrett said.

"Is everything okay?" Carrie replied.

"Come with me." Garrett said leading Carrie into one of the small siderooms off the CIC.

"Is my brother okay?" Carrie asked fearing the worst.

"He's asked me to talk to you. He's had to go to the Mussa Sala. There is a group of surviving members of the SFM there who he has had dealings with before. They've demanded your brother go to them or they will kill his best friend."

"What are they going to do to him?" Carrie asked.

"I have no idea, we're putting a plan together as we speak to send marines in to rescue him."

"Why didn't he tell me himself?"

"Because he thought it would be too hard. He told me that he knew you were the only person who could talk him out of what he was planning to do. But this is what he does best, save people and trust me when I tell you he'll come back."

"Just hopefully not in a body bag." Carrie replied.

….

Hawkeye had been checking each deck of the Mussa Sala, stopping by elevator at each deck. As the doors opened for deck eleven she wasn't able to get further than a step before a very large man blocked her way.

"And where may I ask are you going?" the man asked.

Hawkeye smiled, "I'm looking for my friend, I'm a little lost and still rather drunk from a party last night."

"Well this deck is out of bounds," the man replied, "There is some structural work going on, and anyone who lives on this deck has been moved."

"Okay I'll go check the next deck." She replied with a smile.

"The next four decks down are the same, some structural work is being done. But if you're interested come back later on this afternoon and we can have a party of our own."

"I'll see you this afternoon." She replied with a smile.

As the lift doors closed the smile dropped from her face, "Gotcha." Hawkeye said to herself.

As she walked into her suite she looked at her watch. The channel directly to Orion was still open.

"Georgia can you hear me?" Hawkeye said.

"Is everything okay Jenna?" Taylor replied.

"I need to speak to the commander." She said.

Seconds later Commander Garrett's voice appeared on the other end of the line.

"What do you have?" she asked.

"When I got to deck eleven I wasn't able to go any further. I was met by a man who told me that deck eleven and the four other decks below are all out of bounds for structural testing. I don't know where Skeeter, Archangel or anyone else is but I can find out."

"How?" Garrett replied.

"The man I spoke to asked me to go back this after noon, if I go there I can question him and find out where they are." Hawkeye replied.

"I don't want you to do anything to risky." Garrett replied.

"That's the thing commander when you're in my situation "anything to risky" kind of looses all it's meaning. I'll go see him this afternoon."

"Okay we're going to send a squad of marines to the Mussa Sala within the hour, they'll come to your quarters in plain clothes. They'll give you an ear piece so as soon as you find out any details they can move on it." Garrett replied.

"Not a problem." Hawkeye replied.

….

When Archangel came round he felt the throbbing pain in his head. He already knew that his hands were cuffed to a chair. As he looked up he saw Fred Richards looking down at him.

"Nice to see you're awake Major." Fred said.

"Nice to be awake. Do I know you?" Archangel asked.

"No but I know you, you killed nearly seventy of my friends back on Sagitarron."

"Oh yeah you mean those terrorist frakers, sorry I wasn't able to do you a favour and kill the rest of you." Archangel smiled as he spoke.

Fred punched him as hard as he possibly could. Archangel's head snapped back but he didn't make a sound. He looked back up at Fred with the same smile on his face.

"So what's the plan Mr Terrorist, we going to trade insults, you beat me and then eventually you kill me?" Archangel asked.

"That sounds like a good enough plan to me. I think I'll add a bit of creative torture in there as well." Fred replied.

"Really now that doesn't sound like the fun I had in mind." Archangel replied.

"Really? What do you have in mind?"

"I let you punch me around a little, we talk every now and again and then when I figure I've bought enough time for my back up to secure the area I'll kill you and your friends."

"Well looks like we'll have to wait and see which of us is right, but I wouldn't bet any money on your outcome."

Archangel laughed, "We'll see."

Fred took a pair or brass knuckles out of his jacket pocket, "For now flyboy I just want to hear you scream."

He punched Archangel hard.

….

Wedge stood in front of a handful of selected raptor crews and viper pilots.

"…..okay now you all know the situation. The raptor crews are going to be taking marines to the Mussa Sala. Orion is going to shadow their dradis so that they can't see us coming but don't know anything has changed. We're lucky they chose the Mussa Sala, there are so many ways we can approach the ship without being seen. Hydra will lead the Raptors in and attach at the points you've been given. Marines will cut through the hull and head inside to meet up with Hawkeye who is working on the inside to help us. Raptor pilots will stay with their birds in case there is anyone around who may find them. Vipers we will keep a safe distance, make it look like we're engaging in battle maneouvers. If they have taken over the Mussa Sala completely even though the ship has no weapons we all know what kind of damage a ship of that size can produce, should it look like they're going to do something stupid like ram another ship we take them out."

"Why don't the marines go to the bridge and take control of it?" Bria asked.

"They will, this is in case something happens before they can take control of it." Wedge replied, "Okay you all know where you're going, skids up in twenty minutes."

….

"I'm impressed I'll give you that," Fred said as he sat down in front of the beaten Archangel, "You sure can take one hell of a beating and you haven't even made a sound."

"I aim to please." Archangel replied after spitting out a mouthful of blood and one of his molars.

"But it is a problem. You see I want to hear you scream in pain, like I heard my friends scream while the Cylons slaughtered them. Since I don't seem to be able to make you scream I'll have to settle for listening to your Cylon whore scream instead."

He picked up a radio and switched it on. From the other end they could both hear Grace screaming in agony. Rage filled Archangel.

"Stop. I'll do whatever you want, just stop." Archangel said.

Fred smiled, "Joanna can you hear me?" he said into the radio.

"Loud and clear." Came the reply.

"You can stop what you're doing in there, for now." He replied.

He switched the radio off before taking out a knife.

"Now lets see what we can do about making you scream." Fred said.

Grace gave out a little sigh of relief when Joanna headed for the door. But as the door opened she heard the agonising screams coming from Archangel. She tried to use all her strength to break the cuffs but they were too strong for her. There had to be a way out she thought to herself. She felt anger towards them for doing this to her and her friends and a twinge of anger for letting herself get into this position to begin with. She looked up as the door opened and two more men walked in.

"Well look what we have here Tony." One of them said.

"Oh yeah, I can't tell you how long I've wanted to get my hands on a Cylon. Do you know what your people did to us?" Tony asked.

"Nothing less than you deserved." Grace replied.

"What did you say?" the other man asked as he walked behind her running his hand over her head.

"You can say what you want about Cylons but we don't commit genocide against our own people." Grace replied.

"That's funny," Tony said, "Because I though you had turned you back on your people and had been going around slaughtering them wherever you found them, you know what that makes you by your logic?"

"Enlighten me." Grace replied.

"Exactly like us." He told her.

….

Hydra led the small group of raptors towards the Mussa Sala. They came towards the ship from below where there was no chance of being seen.

"Orion this is Hydra, we're making our final approach." She said over the COM.

"Hydra this is Orion our interference is working perfectly they can't see you coming." Lt Taylor replied.

"All Raptors you know your positions lets do this." Hydra ordered.

The four raptors cut their engines and moved towards the large ship on thrusters. Minutes later all four birds hit their targets.

"Orion this is Hydra we are in position, we have hard seal and are proceeding to cut through the hull." She said.

"Hydra, Orion keep us informed, let us know when you're through."

Hydra sat and watched as the marines dressed in plain clothes began their work.

Wedge and the other vipers watched from a distance as the mission progressed. They could see the raptors had attached to the underside of the ship.

"Okay guys lets make this look good." Wedge said.

Hydra's voice came over the com, "Orion this is Hydra we're in." she said.

"Okay boys and girls be prepared in case they need us." Wedge said.

….

Hawkeye had found herself pacing in her quarters. She stopped at her dresser and picked up two of her painkillers before taking them with a drink of water. She could feel a twinge of pain in her head and knew she couldn't afford one of her full-blown headaches right now. She was startled a little by a knock on the door. She picked up her handgun before walking over to the door and opening it. She sighed a relief when she saw the hulking figure of Gunnery Sergeant Harry Trent stood smiling.

"Gunny it's so good to see you." She said giving him a hug.

"You too LT. You feeling okay?" he asked.

She nodded her head, "Yeah I'm okay."

Harry walked in and closed the door behind her, "The commander asked me to give you this," he said handing her a small ear piece, "We can hear everything that's going on. When you're ready we'll be with you before you know it. One of the teams has positioned themselves by the bridge, as soon as you know where we're going they're going to take command."

"All eyes on me then." Hawkeye said with a nervous laugh.

….

Vannick had been alone cuffed to a chair for nearly five minutes now. He had to try and make a move, he had heard both Archangel and Grace screaming in pain. The cuffs weren't going to budge, he had used all his considerable strength to try and force them open but that wasn't going to happen. He took a series of slow deep breaths as he could only think of one other way to get these cuffs off and he knew it was going to hurt, a lot. Without thinking about it he dislocated his thumb. It took everything he had not to scream in pain himself. Seconds later he managed to squeeze his hand out of the cuff and he was free. He quickly moved to the door but it was locked.

"Frak." He said to himself. He scanned the room for something he could use for a weapon. To his relief he saw a knife, "Thank the gods." He said picking it up and waiting behind the door.

….

As the lift to stopped at deck eleven Hawkeye smiled when she saw the man standing waiting for her.

"So what can I call you?" Hawkeye asked.

"Greg," he replied, "And you?"

"Jenna," She replied, "Shall we go somewhere quiet?"

Greg smiled at her, "Come on."

He took her hand and led her down the corridor into an empty suite. He closed the door behind them.

"So what are you in the mood for?" he asked. As he turned around Hawkeye knocked him out cold with the butt of her gun.

"Not what you're thinking." She replied.

….

At first Archangel had screamed to try and save Grace but some of them had been for real, he just hoped that Fred didn't know that. He felt numb all over. The shallow stabs he had endured had been the worst. He couldn't even begin to think of a way to get out of this situation. He would have to wait for the help he knew would be coming. He looked up at Fred who was smiling from ear to ear.

"You going to let me in on the joke?" Archangel said.

Fred let out a chuckle, "This isn't nearly over Major. I'm going to make this last as long as I possibly can. You know your friend Skeeter said you were this big bad ass who would kill me when he wanted to. Looks to me like you can barely move, let alone kill me."

"I'm full of surprises." Archangel laughed.

"Well I look forward to seeing that." Fred replied before backhanding Archangel so hard he toppled Archangel onto the floor.

….

As Greg came too he saw Hawkeye smiling down at him pointing her gun to his face with a silencer on the end.

"What the frak?" he said.

"I have some simple questions to ask you and for your sake you better give me some honest answers."

"You're from Orion." He replied.

"Used to be, now I'm a civilian who is trying to help her friends. What deck are Major Hunter and the others being held on?" she asked.

"What no foreplay?" he asked with a smirk.

Hawkeye pressed the gun to his right kneecap and pulled the trigger. Greg screamed in agony.

"Where are my friends?" she yelled.

"I'm telling you shit. Go frak yourself." He yelled back.

Hawkeye put her gun on his other knee and pulled the trigger again.

"Looks like you've run out of knees, guess where I'm going next?" Hawkeye said moving the gun above his groin.

"They're on deck 13." He replied.

"How many of your friends are there?"

"Eighteen."

"Do you have control of the bridge?"

"I don't know, that's the truth."

"Did you hear that?" Hawkeye asked.

"Yeah we did, we're heading your way now." Harry replied over the COM, "Take him out and we'll meet you in a minute."

Hawkeye stood up.

"You can't just leave me like this." He said.

"Don't worry about that." She replied putting a bullet between his eyes.

….

Vannick felt like he had been waiting forever. He could hear someone outside in the corridor. Then moments later he heard the door opening.

"Oh frak." He heard the man who was walking in say. As he entered the room Vannick moved quickly and slit the mans throat. Vannick took his gun, extra magazines and his radio. He carefully looked out of the room and saw there was no one there.

"Time for me to save the day." He said to himself.

As he moved out he knew Grace was in the room next to him. He knocked on the door and raised the gun. When the door opened and he saw the man standing the other side he pulled the trigger shooting him in the head. Before the other man could react Vannick moved inside and pulled the trigger one more time killing the man in one shot.

"You okay?" Vannick asked quickly unfastening Grace's cuffs.

"Yeah I'm doing okay."

"We have to hurry, people probably heard those shots."

They both took the weapons off the two men and checked the corridor, still no sign of anyone.

Archangel lay on the floor. All he could taste in his mouth was blood. He had heard the gunshots and had assumed that his friends were dead. When he heard the door open he didn't even bother to look up. If they were going to kill him it seemed now like there was nothing he could do about it.

"Just fraking do it." Archangel said.

"Hey, it's us." Grace said.

He looked up and saw Vannick and Grace.

"Are you guys okay?" he asked.

"Yeah we're fine, we have to find Skeeter and get out of here." Vannick replied.

"Are you okay?" Grace asked.

"It looks worse than it is." Archangel replied with a grin as he painfully got to his feet.

Vannick passed him a gun and a couple of clips of ammo.

"Thanks." Archangel said.

As they went for the door gunfire erupted from outside. Vannick fired back but the gunfire kept coming.

"What the frak are we going to do, we're trapped in here." Grace said. Suddenly the gunfire stopped. They all looked at each other surprised and waiting for the next move. They all breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Hawkeye at the door.

"You guys need some cavalry?" She asked.

"You're timing is perfect," Archangel replied, "It's good to see you."

A single gunshot rang out. Hawkeye looked down as blood spot appeared on her chest and began to get bigger and bigger.

"Frak me, I really liked this top." She said as she fell to the ground. Vannick grabbed her and dragged her further inside.

Rage, rage like Archangel hadn't felt it in a long time began to swell up inside him. He had had enough of humans and Cylons alike. He walked out of the room his gaze fixed on the single man who was frantically trying to reload his gun. As Archangel reached him he hit the man in the face as hard as he possibly could with the butt of his gun, shattering the mans nose. Archangel grabbed him by the hair and put his gun between the mans eyes. Without saying a word he pulled the trigger, blowing the man's brains all across the wall behind him. He turned around and walked straight back into the room where Grace was trying frantically to help Hawkeye.

"Please stop." Hawkeye said.

"No I have to stop the bleeding." Grace replied.

Hawkeye took hold of her hand, "This is a better way to die than what I have in store for me, please Grace, stop."

Grace turned and looked at Archangel.

"Please Major, please let me die here." Hawkeye begged, "This is so much better than how I'll die in a couple of months."

Archangel nodded his head and kneeled down next to Hawkeye, cradeling her head in his arms.

"Thank you." She said with a smile.

"It's okay." Archangel replied, "Thank you for saving us."

"You're welcome, again. There are marines on the way and raptors attached to the bottom of the hull." She replied, her breathing getting heavier and heavier, "Can you tell Bojay that I loved flying with him, he scared the frak out of me sometimes but I loved it all the same."

"I will."

"And do me one last favour?" she asked.

"Anything." Archangel replied.

"Kill every last fraking one of them."

"I promise." He replied. He smiled down at her and stroked her hair as her breathing began to slow before it stopped.

"Major."

Archangel looked up to see Harry and his marines standing in the doorway.

"Gunny take Hawkeye, we have to find Skeeter and kill every last one of these fraks."

"Yes sir." Harry replied handing Archangel another side arm, which he put in the back of his belt.

….

Carrie stood outside Orion's CIC. She had been told that it was one of the off limits areas of the ship for civilians. She had been hoping to catch the commander's eye to find out if there was any news but she had been too focused on her work to look her way.

"Carrie are you okay?" Colonel Rae asked as she walked up along side her.

"I'm just waiting to see if I can hear what's going on." Carrie replied.

"Why don't you just go in and ask?" Rae replied.

"I was told that it was off limits to civilians." Carrie replied.

"I think under the circumstances we can wave that this time." Rae replied, "Come on."

Carrie followed the Colonel onto CIC.

"Hey Carrie." Garrett said as she saw her.

"Hi I was wondering if there was any news?" Carrie replied.

"There is, we just heard that the marines have taken over the Mussa Sala's bridge and they have found your brother." Garrett replied.

Carrie was obviously relieved by this, "Are they on their way back then?"

"Not yet, they still need to locate Skeeter and try to stop the SFM." Garrett replied.

Carrie didn't know how to reply.

"Do you want to wait here for any more news?" Garrett asked.

"Only if I'm not in the way." Carrie replied.

"Of course not." Garrett said.

….

Archangel led the way through the dark corridors of deck thirteen aboard the Mussa Sala. As they reached a T-junction in the corridors gunfire came at them from both directions.

"Got any grenades?" Archangel asked.

Seconds later two grenades were being handed to him. He passed one of them to Vannick and pointed at the left side corridor. Vannick nodded as he took the grenade. Both men pulled out the pins and threw them. Seconds later the gunfire stopped as the loud explosions took over. Archangel and Vannick both took separate corridors and began checking rooms. Grace turned to check on the marines and raised her weapon. All the marines looked shocked and panicked, it all happened so quickly then Grace pulled the trigger. Harry felt the closeness of the bullet as it whizzed past his face. All the marines turned and saw the bullet hit an unseen SFM right between the eyes and it all made sense.

"Thanks." Harry said a little shaken.

"You're welcome." Grace replied.

As Archangel walked into one of the rooms he could have kicked himself for barging in and being so sloppy as there was a man inside who grabbed his gun out of his hand and threw it across the room. Archangel was quick to block the barrage of punches that came his way. He grabbed the mans right arm at the wrist, spun him round twisting his arm behind him and kicked down with his left leg shattering the man's elbow. He grabbed the man by the throat and wrenched him up against the wall summoning all his strength. He didn't feel any of the injuries he had sustained, no pain just the rage that he was using to do what he had to do. With one hand around the man's throat Archangel had lifted him off his feet by a few inches, he tried to gasp for air and grabbed at Archangels hand with his unbroken arm.

"Where is my friend?" Archangel asked.

The man just grasped at Archangel's hand and tried to suck down air.

"Where is my friend?" Archangel let go of the mans throat and hit him in the stomach as hard as he could.

"WHERE IS MY FRIEND?" he screamed.

"The end of the corridor, turn left, room 432." The man replied gasping down air.

"Thank you." Archangel replied before snapping the mans neck.

Archangel turned to see one of the marines standing behind him.

"You okay sir?" he asked.

"Yeah, he told me where Skeeter is." Archangel replied as he picked up his gun.

As he walked out of the room he whistled once before heading in the direction the man had sent him in. Everyone followed. Three times in a row people appeared about to open fire and each time Archangel shot them in the head before they could get off a single shot.

As they neared room 432 the door burst open and Fred walked out holding a battered Skeeter in front of him as a shield. As others poured out behind him, Archangel and the others took them out. Archangel stopped with his gun raised. Fred had his gun pointed at Skeeter's head.

"You remember me you worthless frak?" Fred asked.

"Should I?" Archangel replied.

"Yeah you should because you and your friends murdered a lot of my friends back on Sagitarron."

"Blah blah blah that's all I hear coming out of your mouth," Archangel replied, "You are a terrorist what the frak do you expect? The only reason you survived was because you were planning your own little nuclear war but the Cylons just beat you to it. You got what you deserved."

"And MAJOR if you don't put your gun down Mr Kent here is going to get what he deserves. I don't care if you kill me, if I kill your friend, I've won, now PUT DOWN your fraking weapons. NOW."

Grace stepped up a long side him with her gun raised.

"I won't tell you again." Fred said.

"Just fraking kill him." Skeeter said.

Archangel dropped his gun to the ground, "You all heard him, put your guns down."

Grace wondered what was going on in Archangel's head, as she turned to look at him she saw what the other marines behind him had already seen, the gun in Archangels belt. She threw her gun to the ground as well.

"So much for the mighty Archangel and his Cylon whore, you're not as bad as anyone says, you're a fraking pussy." Fred said.

When he moved his head out from behind Skeeter's it was the split second that they needed. As Grace grabbed the gun from Archangels belt, Archangel moved out the way and Grace took the shot hitting her mark perfectly. As Fred fell so did Skeeter. Archangel rushed over to his best friend.

"You okay?" Archangel asked.

"No not really." Skeeter replied.

"Where do you need help?" Grace asked as she ran over.

"I need to stop getting fraking beaten and fraking shot!" Skeeter replied with one of his grins.

Archangel helped him to his feet. Skeeter turned and kicked Fred's body before spitting on him.

"You can't say I didn't warn you, you fraking piece of shit." Skeeter said.

The first anyone saw of Joanna Horne was as she ran out of room 432 screaming at the top of her lungs with a knife in her hand.

"YOU FRAKING BASTARDS!" she screamed.

Grace was the first to react, she grabbed Joanna by the throat with both hands and smashed her against the wall. Her grip didn't stop as she began to choke the life out of the woman.

"Grace." Archangel said, "Stop."

A few seconds later Grace released her grip dropping Joanna to the ground as she coughed for air.

"You're lucky I don't rip your head from your shoulders for what you did to my friends." Grace said with venom Archangel had never heard before in her voice.

"Gunny take her, we can torture her for information when we get back to Orion." Archangel said.

"My pleasure." Harry replied grabbing the woman.

"Can you guys sweep the rest of the area?" Archangel asked.

"Yes sir. Your orders if we find anymore?" a corporal replied.

"Blow their fraking brains out." Archangel replied.

….

Carrie stood by Colonel Rae in the CIC, she had kept her questions and worry to herself as she didn't want to distract anyone from their work.

"Commander, Wedge report Hydra's raptor has just detached from the Mussa Sala." Lt Taylor said.

"Get her on the horn." Garrett replied, "And put her on speakers."

Seconds later Archangel's voice came through instead of Hydra's.

"Thanks for the rescue." Archangel said.

"Are you all okay?" Garrett replied.

"We're all going to need a trip to sickbay. I have bad news though, we lost Hawkeye." He said.

That news hit everyone on the CIC, Lt Taylor began to cry at the loss of her friend.

"I've instructed the other marines to do sweeps to find any other SFM. We've taken out quite a lot of them and we have a prisoner."

"Good work Major." Garrett replied.

Garrett put her handset down, "Colonel can you escort Carrie down to the hanger bay. Georgia are you able to carry on?"

Lt Taylor wiped her eyes, "Yes ma'am."

"Instruct medics to meet them on the hanger deck."

"Yes commander."

….

Archangel, Grace, Skeeter and Vannick were all sat in sickbay having their wounds attended too. As one of the medics stitched up Archangel's stab wounds he looked at his sister.

"You okay?" he asked taking her hand.

"I was so scared for you," she replied, "Look what they did to you."

"Trust me I've had far worse. It's okay."

"It's going to be like this every day, every time you go out in your viper or every time you have to deal with someone like them." Carrie said.

"I know it's hard but I have to do this. The people of the fleet need us, they need us to do what we do to keep them alive."

"What about today?" she said, "That wasn't to keep the people of the fleet safe."

"That was to save the life of my best friend." Archangel replied.

"I'm sorry," she said wiping tears away from her face, "I've only just found you, I'm not ready to loose you."

"Me either."

Commander Garrett stood in Dr Hammond's office looking out at the wounded.

"Are they all okay?" Garrett asked.

"Yeah they all look much worse than they are. Archangel was beaten the worst and they didn't go much easier on Skeeter."

"They certainly are tough sons of bitches." Garrett replied.

"You're not kidding me." Hammond replied.

"Will they have to stay here long?"

"No, I'll patch them up and send them on their way."

….

The port hanger bay was full of people paying their final respects to Hawkeye. Although she had left the service the commander had wanted to give her a military funeral.

Archangel took the podium, "What can I say about Hawkeye? She was one of the bravest soldiers I've ever fought along side. Despite being ill she still stepped up and she saved all of our lives. I didn't serve with her for long but for the short amount of time that I did she was one hell of an officer and ECO. I know what you all thought of her and how much you loved her, the words that Captain Johnson shared with us show that. Every single person here today can learn something from Hawkeye, she was someone to look up to and had bravery that we all should aspire to have. I want to tell you all that at the end she wasn't afraid, if anything she was relieved to be spared what she had in store. No one deserves to die the way she was supposed to and as much as I would rather she was standing here with us today, happy and healthy she had the death she wanted. She was fearless and she was a hero. Tonight I want every single one of you to raise a glass to Lieutenant Jenna "Hawkeye" Riley."

As Archangel stepped off the podium Brother Ramok took his place.

"And now we lay our fallen sister to rest. We should be secure in the knowledge that she is with the gods and those close to her who have passed before. So say we all." Ramok said.

"SO SAY WE ALL." Thundered the response from across the hanger deck.

The launch tube that held her coffin began to close. As Hawkeye drifted silently and gracefully into space Orion's main battery sprang to life and fired five shots each in respect to it's fallen sister.

This had been the President's first public appearance since his accident and he wished it had been a happier one. He stood with the commander who kept her eye on him as he walked with the aide of a walking stick.

"I'm so sorry about Lt Riley." He said.

"Thank you." Garrett replied, "There he is."

"Now is as good a time as any." The president replied.

"Mr Kent can we speak with you?" the commander asked.

Skeeter seemed a little taken aback but walked over to them.

"Commander, Mr President, it's good to see you on your feet."

"Thank you," He replied, "I'd like to talk to you if you have a spare few minutes."

"Of course." Skeeter replied.

Skeeter felt very nervous sat in the commander's quarters with the president, what the hell could they want to talk to him about.

"Mr Kent I'll be blunt if I may?" the president said.

"Of course sir." He replied.

"I've been told of the difficulties you've been having since you joined the fleet, trying to find your place in the world."

"That's one way of putting it." Skeeter replied taking a sip out of the whiskey the commander had given him.

"Since my accident and everything that has been happening, first with the NCO and now with the SFM it seems that my government and Commander Garrett both feel that I need a personal body guard."

Skeeter was sure this wasn't going where he thought for a moment it could be.

"I need someone who knows how to handle himself, someone who I can trust absolutely and after talks with the commander and Major Hunter I think you are that man."

"What? Sorry What?" Skeeter replied in shock.

"I'm offering you the position as my personal body guard. You fit all the criteria that the commander and Major Hunter insist on. To be honest the more I hear about you the more I agree with them that you are the right person for the job."

"I really don't know what to say." Skeeter replied.

"Yes I would hope. All I need you to do is follow me around while I do my work, look tough and protect me."

Skeeter thought about it for a second, "What the hell, why not." He said.

The President smiled, "Welcome aboard Mr Kent." He shook Skeeter's hand.

"There is one condition though." Skeeter replied.

"Anything."

"Please, please don't call me Mr Kent, it makes me feel a lot older than I am," he said with a laugh, "I prefer Skeeter or Mike at a push."

"Skeeter it is." The president replied.

….

Nathan Perez walked down the corridors of the Starburst. His suit hid a lot of his traditional Tauron tattoos but the ones on the top of his neck and the side of his face couldn't be hidden. People didn't mess with him, if they did it tended to be the last thing they ever did. He walked into his mother's room where she was sat with Mr Caprica.

"Any news?" Miss Tauron asked her son.

"Yes mother and I'm afraid neither of you are going to be happy." Nathan replied.

"What has he done?" Mr Caprica asked.

"Well gotten himself killed for a start," Nathan replied, "He went against your wishes and he took Major Hunter and his friends captive. It was a massacre, I would say virtually all of his surviving SFM are now dead. To top it all off they killed one of Orion's pilots."

"Frak me, that son of a bitch." Mr Caprica said slamming his fist onto the table, "I told that fraking fool what would happen."

"Do they know he was with us?" Miss Tauron asked her son.

"I do not know mother. I know they took at least one prisoner. I tried to get to him to put a stop to this but I couldn't get there in time. Before I knew what had happened Orion had marines onboard and I thought it would be better to keep my distance rather than be discovered."

"Thank god someone around here has some sense." Mr Caprica said, "As soon as this comes out to the fleet we have to put out a message to say how terrible this is, Mr Arilon could be earning his way a lot sooner than we thought."

"Do you think it's a good time to have him come out to the fleet?" Miss Tauron replied.

"I think we could use this to our advantage to gain more support. If it is revealed to the fleet we have to take the opportunity." Mr Caprica said.

"I agree. I also think we should start making more decisions ourselves," Miss Tauron replied, "Instead of putting things to a vote. If we decide what's best for the group we can work individually to turn the others to our way of thinking, make them think they were in on the decision process."

"I think you're right. You're the only one of the Twelve I completely trust anyway. We need to call a meeting and prepare Mr Arilon for his potential public debut."

"If I may I'll put the word out." Nathan said.

"Thank you Nathan, as always you've been one of the few we can truly rely on. I'll speak to our source on Orion, their prisoner cannot be allowed to talk." Mr Caprica said.


	19. U87

Commander Garrett sat at her desk in her quarters. She sat looking at the photographs on her desk. One of her in her flight uniform with her raptor squadron when she had been a pilot, one with her and her old XO Colonel Belzen, one of her much younger with her grandparents who had raised her and another of her as a young child with her mother. Since finding the Olympus and reading the ships logs she awoke everyday thinking that today would be the day they found her father. She had no pictures with him, even if she had they would be buried at the bottom of a draw somewhere. She also had Commander Johansson's photographs on the wall to her left, she couldn't bring herself to take them down. They reminded her everyday of the job she had inherited and how she wanted to do that job. The last couple of days she had found herself with a decision that she couldn't make alone. The ramifications if it went wrong would be massive. Everyone she had spoken too was in agreement with her, that made her feel better about what she was about to do. The silence was broken by a knock on the door.

"Come in." Garrett called out.

As the door opened she smiled as she saw Sergeant Vannick and Grace walk in. Their injuries from the recent incident on the Mussa Sala were starting to fade.

"Sergeant you can leave us." Garrett said.

"Yes ma'am." He replied.

As he left the room Garrett stood, "Please take a seat, can I offer you a drink?"

"Yes please." Grace replied.

Garrett silently poured them both a glass of whiskey and handed it over to her.

"Thank you." Grace said.

The Commander sat back down in her chair, "I've been looking over everything you've done since you came aboard Orion and reading through all the reports of what happened back on Sagitarron. I've had a lot to think about."

"Is everything okay?" Grace asked nervously.

"Yes everything is. Gunnery Sergeant Trent told me about you saving their lives while you were all making your escape. He said he would have been dead if it hadn't been for what you did."

"I did what I had to do, they hadn't seen the man sneak up on them."

"Everyone who has worked along side you or had dealings with you has said how much they enjoy working with you. I'm going to cut to the chase, I've been trying to figure out what to do with you. Having you sat in your quarters all day everyday is a waste of your talents. I've asked the crew about my decision and they are all in agreement with me. I would like to offer you the position of junior medical officer aboard this ship."

"Are you serious?" Grace asked.

Garrett nodded her head, "Dr Hammond jumped at the chance to have you work with her after what you did to save Bojay."

"I'm honoured," Grace replied, "I promise I won't let you down."

"I know you won't."

….

Carrie sat on one of the ladders that led down to one of Orion's flight deck. She had found herself coming here more and more and just sitting and watching vipers and raptors come and go. Watching the deck gang as they went about their business, fixing ships. The one thing that she had noticed more than anything else was the solidarity that held them all together. The smiles and laughter that went on more than she would have thought. She had found herself to be quite a people watcher.

"Hey."

Carrie snapped out of her trance and looked up to see Wedge standing next to her.

"Hey." She replied.

"You okay sat here all by yourself?" he asked.

Carrie nodded her head, "Yeah believe it or not I really rather enjoy watching everything happen, everyone coming and going, it's quite relaxing."

"Can I join you?" he asked.

"Sure take a seat captain." She replied.

"You noticed huh?" Wedge replied.

"The promotion?" she replied, "Yeah I did, well done."

"Thanks." He said as he sat down.

"I should say thanks to you." She said smiling.

"What for?" he asked.

"Not freaking the frak out when you found out whose sister I was. Man I'm getting sick of people on this ship talking to me, finding out who I am and then not talking to me again."

"Your brother is a good friend to me and one hell of a pilot, the best I've ever seen but to the rest of this crew he can be one hell of an intimidating figure. Everyone knows what he's done and what he's capable of. While everyone respects him some of the guys are a little scared of him. You know better than anyone what he did to rescue Skeeter his best friend and if he's prepared to do that and go to those extremes to save his best friend what kind of extremes do you think he'd go to for you? Some people just don't see further than that. What you need to show is that you're a badass in your own right."

Carrie laughed, "A badass, me?"

"Yeah why not?" Wedge replied.

"Well I'm glad you still talk to me." She said giving him a hug, "It's nice to have some friends."

"You're welcome. So are you going to the pyramid game tomorrow?" Wedge asked.

"What pyramid game?" Carrie replied.

"There is a league in the fleet, there are six or seven teams on Orion alone. I was wondering if you wanted to go?" Wedge asked.

"Sure." She replied with a smile, "It's a date."

"What's a date?" Archangel asked walking up behind them.

"Wedge is taking me to the pyramid game tomorrow." Carrie replied.

"Good for Wedge," Archangel replied, "I didn't know you were into pyramid?"

"I decided it was time to give it a go." She replied with a smile.

"Maybe I'll see you both there."

As he finished speaking dradis began to sound.

"Set condition one throughout the ship, unidentified ship just came into dradis range, launch vipers." Colonel Rae's voice said over the COM.

"Be safe." Carrie shouted to her brother and Wedge as they both took off for their birds.

She watched as pilots scattered into their ships and were launched one after the other into tubes.

On CIC Commander Garrett met Colonel Rae at the dradis console.

"What have we got?" she asked.

"We're not sure. Whoever it is didn't jump in they just appeared on dradis. There is no reply from them but there does appear to be very minimal power coming from them." Rae said.

"Are vipers away?" Garrett asked.

"Yes ma'am Archangel is leading them, they'll be in visual range in two minutes." Rae replied.

"Lieutenant Taylor please keep trying to make contact with them." Garrett ordered.

"Yes ma'am."

"Tell all fleet ships to spool up their FTL's but stay put for now."

Archangel and Wedge led the vipers towards the unidentified ship.

"Okay guys it may only be one target but I want you to stick together and don't take any risks." Archangel said.

As the fighters flew closer they could see the very old and battered ship floating through space.

"Orion this is Archangel. The ship is very old, like pre the first Cylon war old, it's just drifting. Judging by the scaring on the hull it's seen some action but it hasn't been damaged enough to stop it from working. I think they must have just run out of power."

"Archangel this is Orion actual if you don't think it poses a threat send all but a couple of vipers back. We're going to send a couple of raptors to you and tow it back so we can take a look." Garrett replied over the COM.

"No problem." Archangel replied, "Okay guys, Wedge I want you to stay with me, everyone else head back to the barn."

"I don't think I've seen a ship like this before." Wedge said.

"I do recognise the design but it looks like it's had some work done to upgrade it." Archangel replied.

Both vipers took up a position in front of the floating ship.

"I wonder what brought them out here?" Wedge said.

"Maybe we'll find out when they get it onboard. I always find dead ships like this sad." Archangel replied.

"I know what you mean." Wedge replied.

As Bojay walked onto the hanger deck he was still feeling a little stiff but he was ready to get back to work. He couldn't bear be fussed over any more than he already had been.

"You sure you're ready to be back at work?" Bria asked as she walked along side him.

"Yes I'm fine." Bojay replied, "I think I can handle a simple job like this."

"I hope so, I don't want to get killed because you needed some more sleep." Bria said with a smile.

"HA HA HA, you're so fraking funny." Bojay said sarcastically.

"I aim to please." She replied.

As they got onto their raptor it felt good to be back where he belonged.

Minutes later he and Hydra were flying through space towards the ship they were assigned to tow back in.

"You okay over there?" Hydra asked over the COM.

"Sure am," Bojay replied, "Nothing like having your insides ripped apart to make you miss this."

As they reached the old ship Archangel and Wedge greeted them.

"Frak me I've not seen one of these other than on the pages of a book." Bojay said as he moved his raptor into position.

"Personally I can't wait to see what's inside." Wedge replied.

As the raptors attached tow cables to the ship the pilots continued their chatter. Ten minutes later they were on their way back in.

The hanger deck was full of people trying to get a glimpse of the ship they were bringing in. As the old ship came to a halt Chief of the Deck Arthur James met the commander. The middle-aged man looked quite excited about the ship that had found himself on his deck.

"Have you ever seen this class of ship before?" Garrett asked.

"Not in a very long time." Arthur replied.

"Want to take a look what's inside?" Garrett replied with a smile.

"I thought you'd never ask."

The chief walked up to the side of the ship, it only took him a couple of minutes to find a hatch that would lead them inside.

"I'm going to need a cutting torch to get in here." He said.

Moments later a couple of the deck gang had brought one and a protective visor over to him. The next few minutes seemed to take an eternity for those watching as he slowly cut through the door. When it fell onto the ground they were met by the stench of death as oxygen seeped into the sealed tomb of a ship. Inside the ship was total darkness, nothing could be seen.

"Chief I want this ship checked before any of your crew go inside." The commander said.

"Yes ma'am."

"Sergeant as you're the closest marines here I want you to take a look inside." Garrett said.

"Yes ma'am." Vannick replied.

Vannick switched on the torch on his rifle and led the team of marines into the pitch-black ship. The smell inside was dreadful, he knew somewhere there was going to be dead bodies. The ship was old and the inside showed that. The metal walls were covered in rust and other damage. It didn't take long to reach the small ship's bridge. They were greeted by six bodies in various states of decay. One of the other marines behind Vannick threw up when he saw what was in front of him. Vannick moved closer he saw a familiar face looking back at him. A number 5 cylon lay dead, he was the least decayed of the bodies.

"Commander can you hear me?" he said over his radio.

"Yes sergeant, what do you see?" she replied.

"There are six bodies on the bridge, they're all pretty badly decayed but I can tell one of them is one of the human Cylons we've seen."

"Are you sure?" Garrett replied.

"Yes ma'am I've killed enough of this son of a bitch to remember his face forever."

"What about the others?" she asked.

"I can't tell, they're too far gone." He replied.

"Okay, secure the rest of the ship, I'll send for a medical team."

"Yes ma'am," Vannick replied, "You okay back there Joey?"

The marine who had been sick looked up, "Lets get this the frak over with serg."

….

Adam Grayson wondered why he had agreed to anything that had been happening since the attack. Since he had become Mr Arilon he felt as though he had no control over his life or the decisions that "The Twelve" made as a group. Now they wanted him to become the public face of the NCO. He didn't know how things would change when this happened but he had the feeling they wouldn't be good.

"I'm not sure about this." He said.

"This has to be done." Mr Caprica replied.

"They're going to come after me." Adam replied.

"You're well known for being anti violence, you're a trusted and well respected man." Miss Tauron said.

"People will believe whatever you have to say." Mr Caprica added.

"Then you have a lot more faith in people that I do." Adam said.

"The video is being readied to transmit as we speak," Mr Caprica said, "It will be broadcast from a ship on the other side of the fleet so you'll be safe. Plus we're about to tell the people of this fleet some home truths that our president and commander haven't, this will be a good thing for us."

"I hope you're right, for all our sakes." Adam replied.

….

Grace walked through the wrecked ship with a team of medics towards the bodies Vannick had found. It was exciting to be part of the crew and this was the first time she had been called out of the sickbay. As they arrived on the bridge she put her bag down on the ground and walked over to the bodies. Shock hit her when she saw the identity of one of the bodies.

"This one is a Cylon." She said.

"Are you sure?" Vannick asked.

"Positive. We need to get the rest of them back to sickbay immediately so I can run tests on the others."

"Commander this is Vannick, we need to get these bodies out, Grace has confirmed one of them as a Cylon and wants to run tests on the others."

"Is she sure?" Garrett replied.

"Yes ma'am she is."

"Okay I defer to her then. Did you find anything else?"

"No nothing, the rest of the ship appears clean." Vannick replied.

"Thank you."

"Okay you can take the bodies away." Vannick said.

"Guys lets be quick and careful," Grace said, "I want the rest of these bodies identified ASAP."

….

Skeeter sat behind the President as he held a meeting with his cabinet and the Quorum of Twelve. He hadn't paid any attention to what was being said. In the first couple of meetings he had been too he had listened to every word, then the Vice President's bodyguard had told him not to bother as things never concerned them. Even though politics bored him silly this had been the first time since they joined the fleet that he genuinely felt in the right place. Since Sagitarron and Caprica he had gotten used to not having a gun on his hip 24/7, now he had to get used to I all over again. He had tried so hard not to fidget during the first meeting. Then once again the Vice President's bodyguard had shown him where to put it so he wouldn't even notice it when he sat down. He was getting to grips with the job and the people around him were really nice. There were certain politicians he had met over the last few days that he didn't like at all, but on the whole they all seemed to genuinely want to help the people of the fleet. The President's chief of staff Thomas Jones seemed like a nice enough guy but his heart clearly wasn't in the job he was performing. Skeeter had noticed a lot when the President had had to remind Thomas to do something or wait a long time for something he needed. Each evening when they had finished their day Thomas was first in the bar and was always the last to leave, it felt to Skeeter that he would be getting fired anytime soon.

Skeeter looked out of the massive window to the right hand side of the long table and looked up at the massive Orion. It dwarfed everything except for the Starburst by a long way. It was an impressive sight to behold, Skeeter actually found himself thinking it was a thing of beauty. He loved watching the vipers launch, wondering if any of them were Archangel. His attention was brought back to the room when he heard them talking about the Mussa Sala and the events that had happened after his capture. They were discussing whether or not it would be a good thing to tell the people of the fleet.

"I think the less they know the better," The Canceron representative said.

"The fact we've managed to keep it quiet this long amazes me." Vice President Natasha Cobb replied, "It was a mess on there. I think the people have a right to know what's going on."

Everyone's attention shifted to the president who sat silently for a few moments.

"Maybe we should ask someone who was actually involved what they think?" The President said.

Suddenly Skeeter realised the President was talking about him. He didn't know whether to speak or not. That was cleared up though when Milo turned to him, "So Mr Kent as you were involved, what do you think? You know what it's like to live in the fleet as a citizen as well."

Skeeter cleared his throat, "I think that with the NCO gaining support with the civilian population, then they should be made aware of what happened, what one of their senior members did."

"With all due respect, how can a very junior member of your support staff be expected to have a useable opinion on this matter?" The Canceron representative replied in a curt tone.

"With all due respect sir, you weren't there. I think the people need to know the kind of people the NCO are," Skeeter replied, "They need to know that amongst the torture they doled out to us, they were prepared to shoot a colonial officer in the back, murdering her. I say expose these cowards for what they are before it's too late."

Milo hadn't taken his attention away from the Canceron representative the whole time Skeeter had spoken, he looked pissed off and he was. He was fuming at the way Skeeter had been spoken too and it was something that would have to be dealt with.

"We're going to make a statement," Milo said, "We'll craft it well and deliver it as soon as possible."

….

Grace and Dr Hammond looked at the test results in front of them.

"Well there's no question." Hammond said.

"What were they doing out this far, in a ship so old?" Grace said.

"I guess we'll never know." Hammond replied, "But your hunch was right, all Cylon. Guess I better tell the Commander."

The doctor picked up the phone by her desk and called up to the CIC, moments later she was talking to the Commander.

"The results are back," Hammond said, "Grace was right, all the bodies are Cylon."

"Is there any way to tell how they died?" Garrett replied.

"We've run some tests on the least decomposed body and from what we can tell it was asphyxia."

"Thank you," Garrett replied, "Hopefully the Chief will be able to uncover some details on what actually happened."

….

Chief Arthur James sat on the bridge of the old ship. He had brought generators aboard and was working on restoring some of the navigational systems to see where the ship had been. Doing something different to fixing Vipers and Raptors had been quite exciting. He looked forward to trying to find the secrets the ship had to offer. The Chief jumped as Archangel walked up behind him and spoke.

"Any joy?" Archangel asked.

"It's going to be slow going. I'm just trying to restore power to certain systems so I can get the navigational logs." The Chief replied.

"I'm looking forward to seeing where this old bucket has been." Archangel replied.

"I'll let you know when I have everything up and running." The Chief replied.

"Thanks."

….

The next day things were more or less back to normal. Traffic to Orion was larger than usual. The pyramid game between the Orion Raptors and the Starburst Engineers was drawing in a large crowd. The pyramid league in the fleet had been a successful attempt to bring the people together.

The Orion Raptors had been top of the league for the last three games, no one seemed to be able to beat them, much to the frustration of all the other teams aboard the ship. Bria the team's captain was first in the locker room as usual. She had her own pre-match routine, which she liked to get finished before the rest of the team arrived. Orion's pyramid court and the two changing rooms had been put together from a number of unused cargo areas aboard the ship. When it had first been suggested back when Commander Johannsen had been alive he was quick to approve the idea. As the rest of the team arrived she was ready in her gear. Hydra was the first to walk in, followed by the rest of the team. Everyone was in good spirits, laughing and joking with each other as they got ready for the match. When they were all ready Bria got them all together for a team talk.

"Okay we're not going to talk tactics, we did that in training yesterday. We all know what we've got to do. We win this game and it moves us further away from the marines who are breathing down our necks in second place. The Starburst Engineers may be rock bottom of the table but they can still play a good game when they want to. I don't want anyone taking any stupid risks and showing off and yes Animal I'm talking to you."

The young pilot smiled and went a little red as he was singled out.

"Now lets go out there and embarrass them, not ourselves."

As the supporters and fans arrived and headed into the makeshift stadium Carrie stood waiting for Wedge. She smiled when she saw him walking up to her dressed in his blue uniform.

"Hey, sorry I'm late, one of the nuggets needed some help." He said.

"Don't worry about it," She replied with a smile, "Shall we find a seat?"

As the two walked inside Archangel, Grace and Vannick weren't far behind them.

"Hey wasn't that Wedge and your sister?" Vannick asked.

"Yeah." Archangel replied.

"We should catch up with them." Vannick replied.

"I think it's supposed to be a date." Archangel replied.

"And you're okay with Wedge going on a date with your sister?" Vannick asked.

"Wedge is a good guy and it's better than some of the yahoos she could have gone out with." Archangel replied.

As they entered the arena Archangel chose the opposite stands for them to sit in, giving his sister some privacy.

"You know this is my first pyramid game ever." Grace said with a smile.

"Really?" Archangel replied.

She nodded her head in reply, "Yeah, never really thought about going before."

"My dad used to take my brother and I when we were kids to see the Bucks all the time. I used to enjoy the games but my brother was a die-hard fan. He played for his college team, he was really good." Archangel replied.

Everyone began to cheer as the two teams entered the court ready for tip off.

….

The Chief had no idea what time it was and he didn't care, he was enjoying himself way too much. He looked up as one of his deck hands walked in with a cup of coffee in her hand. Jo Read was one of his most senior deck hands, the two had known each other for nearly ten years.

"If you're not going to get some sleep I thought you might like a coffee." She said handing him the cup.

"Thank you." He replied.

"Any joy so far?" she asked.

"Yes, I've just unlocked the nav computer and now some other systems are coming online. I'm uploading the data to the CIC but I've found an interesting schematic of the ship." The Chief replied.

"I forget that you get all happy around old ship schematics." Jo replied with a smile.

"Well this one gave me reason. According to this there is another section of the ship that we hadn't found. It looks like it was added after the ship was built. It's just off where we are now, I'm just trying to figure out a way of getting into it."

"Shouldn't you tell the CIC, there could be anything in there." She replied.

"Relax I have, they're going to send some marines down. But I've done a scan and from what I can tell there isn't anyone alive in there and there doesn't seem to be any electrical readouts coming from inside." He replied.

There was a beep from the laptop and the Chief smiled.

"Bazinga, we're in." he said getting up and walking to the door, "You coming?"

"I suppose so." She replied, "Can't let you have all the fun."

They both picked up a torch and quickly walked the short distance to the secret door. As the Chief pressed the doors hidden latch it hissed open to reveal a pitch-black room.

"Ladies first?" the chief said.

"Age before beauty." She replied signalling her friend to walk in first. The Chief led the way down the short corridor to the large hidden room. As they shone their torches around they both stood routed to the spot in shock.

"Oh frak me." Jo said.

Lining the walls were very old Cylon Centurions.

"We have to get the frak out of here." Jo said.

"Relax, look at them they're powered down and as I said there is no sign of any power signatures coming from in here." The Chief replied.

"I've never seen Cylons that look like this before?"

"I have in a museum, these were the first Cylons built by Graystone Industries, The U-87s, the ones who started it all."

The Chief walked closer to the nearest giant metal monster to get a better look.

"This is amazing." He said.

"I'm going to call the CIC." Jo replied not sharing any of the Chiefs enthusiasm at all.

"Just look at them." He said.

He reached out and ran his hand along the cold metal frame. Suddenly without warning it's arm reached out and grabbed him by the neck. It's red eye looking down at him. It lifted the Chief off the ground bringing him face to face. It looked at him for a few moments before squeezing his neck with all its strength popping his head clean off his shoulders. Jo screamed in terror. As she turned to run the red eyes of the other U-87s came to life, cutting through the darkness.

She screamed as she ran back onto the hanger deck. There were a couple of other deck hands working near by who came over to her.

"What's wrong?"

"We have to run." She yelled as she pushed past them, "Cylons."

As the first of the U-87's came out of the ship the two deck hands joined her in running away. Their screams were cut short but the sound of three bullets, all hitting their mark with deadly accuracy.

Twelve of the metal beasts came out of the dark ship.

"Initial scans detect one humanoid Cylons and a cybernetic humanoid aboard this ship." One of them said in a cold metallic voice.

"They must be prisoners of the humans. We must rescue them."

"By your command." The other eleven U-87s all said together.

….

Everyone cheered as Bria scored her second goal of the game. Archangel looked over at Grace smiling. His smile soon changed to concern when he saw her holding her head.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Something's wrong." She replied.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I don't know, I have to get out of here." She said standing up and walking away. Archangel stood up to follow her.

"Everything okay?" Vannick asked.

"She needs some air." Archangel replied.

"Want me to come?" Vannick asked.

"No it's fine, stay and watch the game." Archangel replied walking after Grace.

When Archangel caught up with her outside she was standing against the wall still holding her head.

"What's wrong?" Archangel asked.

"It's like for a second something entered my head." She replied.

"What? How?"

"As if something linked in with me, just for a moment."

"What could do that?" Archangel asked.

"I've never experienced anything like this before. There were stories about the Cylons during the war, when we were created they could sense us. But they had that ability removed."

"But there are no of those Cylons anywhere near here." Archangel replied.

They both looked at each other and spoke at the same time, "The ship."

Archangel picked up one of the phones nearby and was quickly transferred over to the CIC.

"This is Rae." The XO said over the CON.

"Colonel there may be Cylons onboard." Archangel replied.

"How is that possible?" Rae replied.

"Grace has just experienced something that is only possible around old Cylons, like from the first war. The only way they could have been onboard is from the ship we brought in."

"The Chief did report he found a hidden section to the ship."

"That must be it." Archangel replied, "We need to get that area locked down."

"Agreed, there are marines on their way already, take Grace to sickbay, make sure she's okay."

"Yes ma'am."

As the XO put the phone down she turned to Lt Taylor.

"Have the marines checked in yet?" Rae asked.

"Not yet but they are nearly there."

"Send three more squads to the hanger bay, I want it locked down and the deck gang out, we may have brought Cylons onboard and get the Commander up here."

"Yes ma'am."

After a few moments the silence was broken, "Colonel I'm not getting any response from the Chief or any of the other deck gang in that section." Taylor said.

"Frak." Rae walked over to one of the control screens and brought up various cameras from where the ship was. When she saw the three bodies on the ground she enlarged the camera.

"Dam it. Sound condition one throughout the ship." Rae said.

"Ma'am the Commander is on her way. What should we do about the civilians at the Pyramid court?" Taylor asked.

"Seal it off, they'll be safer inside." Rae replied, "Put me through to the ship."

"Yes ma'am."

Rae picked up her handset, "All hands this is the XO. We have been boarded by an undetermined amount of Cylons. All civilians in the Pyramid court must stay where you are until the situation has been resolved. All department heads report your status to the CIC, all marines are to call in on all decks, search the ship section by section."

She put the handset down as the Commander came onto the CIC.

"I just heard, where are they and how many are we facing?" Garrett asked.

"We're not sure yet. I was about to pull up all the camera footage to see what we can see." Rae said.

"Good, that's your job. Miss Taylor put me through to Gunstar Cryxus." Garrett asked.

"Cryxus this is Orion actual." Garrett said into her handset.

"Orion actual this is Captain Reynolds." Came the response.

"Captain we've been boarded by Cylons."

"Yes ma'am I just heard."

"I want you to jump to the next co-ordinates with the fleet, we'll stay behind until we've taken control of the situation. Please inform the President of the situation on the other side of the jump."

"Yes ma'am." He replied.

"See you on the other side." Garrett said.

"Good hunting Commander."

Garrett put down her handset and took a deep breath, "Miss Taylor please inform the CAP to land on the Cryxus and go with them."

"Yes Ma'am." Taylor replied.

….

Sergeant Lucas Jennings led his team of marines onto the quietest part of all the hanger decks. There was no sound at all. He had fought his fair share of Cylons during the rescue missions back on the colonies so he was ready for this. They walked in silently with their rifles at the ready. There was no sign of any Cylons but they saw the three bodies on the ground. Jennings signalled his squad to follow him. As he reached Jo's body he checked for a pulse.

"Is she dead?" one of the other privates asked.

Jennings checked again, "No I can feel a pulse but it's very weak. Jones, Hastings take her to sickbay now, quick and quiet."

"Yes sir." Jones replied.

Jennings checked the other bodies but they had not been so lucky. He signalled to one of his men to follow him into the ship.

"You four stay out here." He ordered.

He and the other marine reached into one of their pouches and both took out a small eyepiece. They clicked it onto their helmets and pulled it down over their right eye. As it powered up they could see in night vision as they went inside.

"These things give me a headache." The private whispered.

"Shut your fraking mouth or I'll give you a fraking aneurysm." Jennings replied.

"Sorry."

They both walked in silently and quickly found the hidden room. Jennings walked in first. Inside he found the horrific sight of the dead chief and nothing else. He turned on his radio.

"Commander, I have Sergeant Jennings on the horn." Taylor said.

"Put him through," Garrett said as she walked back to the dradis console, "What do you see sergeant?"

"Ma'am there is no sign of the Cylons at all. The Chief is dead as are two other deck hands. We found Specialist Read, she's in bad shape but she's still alive, I've sent two of my guys to take her to sickbay."

"Okay. I want you to seal off that section of the hanger bay and post some of your men at the entrance."

"Yes ma'am."

"Commander we've found them." Rae said.

Garrett walked over to the camera footage, "They appear to be on C deck, section 32." Rae said.

"Where can they get to from there?" Garrett asked.

"Sick bay and here are the closest areas of importance." Rae replied, "But essentially they can get anywhere they want."

"Okay send marine teams there at once, I want this stopped, now." Garrett replied.

"Yes ma'am." Taylor said.

"Commander I must insist we lock down the CIC in case this is their target." Rae said.

"What? I'm not locking down CIC."

"Commander if they head here, not only can they kill you they can take over the entire ship." Rae replied.

"I will not sit here while the rest of my crew is in danger, if they come here then we will fight them off." Garrett replied.

"I'm sorry Commander but I cannot allow them to get here. This crew has lost one commanding officer, they're not loosing another."

Garrett stood in silence, she knew her XO was not going to back down, that was one of her best qualities.

"You have to think of the bigger picture." Rae said.

"Okay." Garrett replied quietly.

The Colonel walked over to the dradis console and activated a lock down. Seconds later all the entrances to the CIC were reinforced with 12" of solid steel. Everyone sat silently.

"Lt Taylor, please in form sickbay to do the same." Rae ordered.

"Yes Colonel."

….

"I have to find my brother." Carrie said getting up.

"You can't go out there on your own with Cylons onboard." Wedge replied.

"Then you better come with me." She replied.

Wedge quickly stood up and followed her to the doorway. As they reached it a marine was about to close the arena off.

"Sorry you have to stay put." The marine said.

"I have to get out of here." Carrie said.

"I'm sorry ma'am but I must insist you stay here."

Carrie turned to Wedge, "Please?" she mouthed.

"Corporal you need to let me out, I'll take responsibility for her." Wedge said.

The marine looked at him for a few moments.

"Okay captain."

Carrie and Wedge quickly left the arena, the doors being locked down behind them. Wedge took out his sidearm and loaded a round into the chamber.

"This is a bad idea." Wedge said.

"That may be but I have to find my brother." Carrie said.

"Any idea where he may be?" Wedge replied sarcastically.

Carrie shook her head.

"This is a really bad idea."

….

Archangel and Grace arrived at the sickbay just after the marines with Specialist Read.

"What's happened?" Dr Hammond asked.

"She's been shot in the back, her pulse is very weak." Private Jones.

"Bring her through." Hammond replied.

"Doctor we've just received orders from the CIC we have to lock down sickbay." One of the medics said.

Grace began to sway again as she held her head.

"Is it happening again?" Archangel asked.

"Yes one of them linked in with me for a second. They're coming this way, they're coming for me." Grace said.

"Get us locked down." Archangel said to the medic.

"Wait, I can't be in here." Grace said.

"What? Why?" Archangel asked.

"There's no guarantee the lockdown will hold and I can't risk all these people being killed." Grace replied, "I have to go."

"I'm coming with you." Archangel replied.

"No when they catch up with me they'll kill you." Grace said.

"And what do you think they'll do to you?" Archangel asked.

"I don't think they're here to kill me, they're here to rescue me." Grace replied.

Archangel turned to Private Jones, "Once we've left lock the place down."

"Sir do you want us to come with you?" Jones asked.

"No, stay here and protect everyone." Archangel replied.

"Yes sir." Jones said.

Archangel followed Grace into the corridor as sickbay went into lock down.

"We have to find somewhere where there aren't many other people." Grace said.

Archangel thought for a moment, "Okay T deck section 103, there is no one there. It's a massive cargo hold that's currently empty."

"That should be good." Grace replied.

They both started to run, "We have to stop at my quarters on the way," Archangel said, "We need better weapons."

….

Skeeter was looking out into space as the ships in the fleet started to jump away.

"I didn't think we were scheduled to jump till this evening?" Skeeter said.

"We're not." Milo replied joining him at the window, "Something must be happening."

"I'll call the bridge." Skeeter said.

Milo continued to watch as all the ships jumped.

"Captain this is Mike Kent, I'm with the President, is something wrong?" Skeeter asked.

"We've been ordered to make an emergency jump by Gunstar Cryxus, they said they would explain on the other side of the jump." The captain replied over the loud speaker.

"Captain Henry this is the President, do you have any idea what's going on? Do we have enemy contacts?" Milo asked.

"No sir, no contacts. All I know is that we were ordered to make the jump and Captain Reynolds said he would call you after the jump."

"Thank you captain I'll leave you to your work."

As they hung up the ship made the jump. On the other side Skeeter looked out but saw no sign of Orion.

"This is bad." Skeeter said.

"I'm sure whatever it is they'll be able to handle it." Milo replied putting his hand on Skeeter's shoulder trying to reassure him. The phone began to buzz. Milo pressed the loudspeaker button so Skeeter could hear as well.

"This is the President." He said.

"Mr President this is Captain Reynolds." Came the reply.

"What's the news Captain?" The President replied.

"Orion has been boarded by Cylons." Reynolds replied.

"How?" Milo replied.

"The ship they brought in, it appears there were centurions hiding onboard. They've ordered us to jump away while they deal with them." Reynolds replied.

"How many Cylons are there?" Milo asked.

"I don't know sir, they didn't have time to give us complete details. As soon as we know more you will be the first to know."

"Thank you Captain. Anything you need let me know."

"Thank you sir." He replied.

As Milo hung up both men were shocked by what they had heard.

"This is bad." Skeeter said again.

"I'm sure they can deal with a few centurions." Milo replied.

"Sorry sir I'm just not used to not being able to do anything when there are centurions attack my friends."

….

Colonel Rae stood watching the camera feeds, trying to see where the Cylons were heading.

"Commander they've split into two teams." Rae shouted.

Garrett walked over to her, "Can you tell where they're heading?"

"Not yet. I've instructed marines to head in their direction but they're moving fast." Rae replied.

"Oh my gods." Garrett said as they watched four crewmembers walk right into the old centurions. They were cut down before they could even react.

"What the frak are they doing? One of the groups has stopped." Rae said.

They watched as one of the centurions began to use one of the computers.

"Tell the marines where to go." Garrett yelled to Lt Taylor.

As Taylor began to speak to one of the marines feedback came back at her so loud everyone around her could hear it. She grabbed her headset and threw it down.

"Lieutenant are you okay?" Garrett asked.

Taylor was clearly in pain, blood began to run from her ear.

"I think I've ruptured my ear drum." She replied, "They've cut off our communications."

As a medic began to help her the CO and XO turned and just looked at each other, worry clear on both their faces.

….

Archangel checked the corridor that led to his quarters, it was clear. Both he and Grace moved out and ran to the door. As they walked inside Archangel went straight for the bag under his bed.

"Try and get through to CIC, tell them what's going on." Archangel said as he opened the bag and started to take weapons out.

"Nothing but feedback." Grace said as she put the handset back down.

Archangel handed her a rifle and a magazine belt before picking up his own. They both began to run again.

….

Mr Caprica sat in his suite with a drink in one hand and the latest fleet newsletter in the other. The door opening and John Cavil walking in interrupted his relaxation.

"Good afternoon John," Mr Caprica said, "Is everything okay?"

"We've just had some very interesting news from one of our sources near the President. We've just made a jump and Orion didn't come with us. Apparently they've been boarded by Cylons."

"How reliable is this information?" Mr Caprica replied.

"100%."

"This could be our opportunity to broadcast our message."

"That is exactly what I was thinking." Cavil replied.

"Send word, I want it broadcast immediately."

"Of course." Cavil said turning to leave the room.

….

Milo Vents paced in his office. The wait for news was excruciating. He needed to know that Orion was okay, he needed to know his son was okay. There was a knock on his door and Skeeter walked in.

"Is there any news?" Milo asked.

"No but you need to see this." Skeeter replied turning on the television screen on the far wall.

"People of the fleet for those of you who do not know me my name is Adam Grayson and I feel it is time to reveal myself and my intentions for this fleet. I am the head of the New Colonial Order. There are many differences of opinion about my organization and the things we may or may not have done for you the people of this fleet. You have all heard of the violence and murder that has been committed in the name of the NCO, these are lies, lies by people who want to tarnish and destroy what we are trying to achieve. We have never committed an act of violence against the people or the military. For those of you who know me from before the fall you know the kind of man I am, you know that I do not condone violence, I hate it with everything I have, with everything I am. I want peace for you, I want to lead you to a new home, free from the fear of the Cylons, free from the control of the current government and military. I have decided to reveal myself now because of the lies that have been spread about us, you needed to know who I am and who we are. President Vents and Commander Garrett are keeping more from you than they are telling you. Most recently to do with the tragic events aboard the Mussa Sala that have been swept under the rug…"

"Frak," Milo said, "Talk to Captain Reynolds, I want to know where this is coming from."

"Yes sir." Skeeter replied.

"People claiming to be part of the NCO took civilian and military prisoners and tortured them. These people once again were nothing to do with us, they were in fact surviving members of the SFM. Their goal it seems was to enact revenge on these civilians and military personnel for things they did while on Sagitarron after the Cylons had attacked. While a young raptor pilot, Lieutenant Jenna Riley was killed during this incident, the military replied by slaughtering all the remaining SFM. Yes these people were terrorists, yes they had killed a military officer but they did not deserve the deaths they were given. Why am I telling you these things? Because you deserve to know. What do we want? We want the government to step down, we want the military to hand their warships over to people who would use them only to defend the people. We want to lead you to your salvation, we only want what is best for you the people. We will not lie to you, we will not hurt you, and we will not betray you. I call upon all the people of the fleet to stand with us in our struggle. We do not want any further violence, falsely in our name or by anybody else. By using peace, by using words, by using our intellect we will succeed. We will be victorious. I am Adam Grayson and this is only the beginning." The screen went blank.

"Captain Reynolds has people trying to find where that came from, he says it's being bounced across the fleet but they will find it." Skeeter said.

"Good when they do find it, I want Adam Grayson bringing here." Milo said

"Yes sir. Where's my assistant?"

"I don't know sir I haven't seen him." Skeeter replied.

"Try to find him, I need the Vice President and the Quorum, we need to get a reply out there ASAP."

"Yes sir."

….

Jasper Vents and the rest of the new recruits sat in the flight simulator room with Bojay. He could feel the nerves of everyone else in the room, Bojay had done a good job of keeping them all calm.

"Captain what should we do?" one of the recruits asked.

Bojay had been wondering the very same thing.

"We stay put." Bojay replied.

"But we're all armed, we can go help." The recruit replied.

Bojay wanted to agree but wasn't sure if the nuggets would be able to help or not. He would like to think they wouldn't freeze under fire but didn't know whether or not to chance it. He had tried to get in touch with the CIC but had met with deafening feedback when he had tried.

"We stay put for now. I do however want you to make sure your weapons are loaded and ready in case you need them." He replied.

Jasper took out his sidearm. He had only ever fired it on the shooting range before now, he had surprised himself though as he hit the target the first time he tried. He ejected the magazine and checked it was fully loaded before putting it back into the gun and loading a round into the barrel. If he was going to come up against a Cylon we was going to put up as much of a fight as he could. Bojay signalled everyone to stay quiet and took out his own weapon when they heard noises from outside. The clunking of metal against the ground was unmistakable, the Cylons were right outside. They all heard gunfire followed by brief screams before the movement carried on and went straight past the room. Bojay put his finger to his lips and the nuggets stayed quiet. He took a deep breath before slowly opening the door. He immediately saw the bodies of two marines before looking around, the centurions were gone. He signalled for two of the recruits to come to the door. Jasper and fellow nugget Joanna Hayes came over.

"I want you to keep watch here, you see metal you start firing." Bojay whispered.

"You can count on us Captain." Jasper replied.

With his gun held tightly in his hand Bojay walked outside and quickly moved over to the two marines. He checked their pulses but they were both dead. He holstered his weapon before taking the rifles and ammo from the two marines. He quickly walked back over the simulator room and went inside, closing the door behind him. Beyond his better judgement he had made a choice.

"Okay you are coming with me." He said handing the rifle and ammo to Jasper, "The rest of you I want you to stay put until this is over. If they come back there are enough of you to be able to take them out."

"Where are you two going?" Joanna asked.

"We're going to follow the toasters," Bojay replied, "You up for this?"

Jasper nodded, "Yes sir."

….

The Raptor pyramid team sat in their locker room since their game had been interrupted.

"I feel so useless just sitting in here." Animal said.

"I know what you mean." Hydra replied.

"Does anyone have their side arm with them?" Bria asked.

"I do." Animal replied.

"Me too." Hydra added.

"Knowing our luck they'll end up coming this way." As Bria finished speaking there was a loud thud on the locker room door.

Animal and Hydra both grabbed their weapons. There was another thud followed by another and another. The door started to buckle.

"You just had to fraking jinx us." Animal said.

The other pilots looked for something to use as a weapon. The thudding continued and moments later the door caved in and in poured several of the U-87s. Both Hydra and Animal opened fire taking down the first toaster.

"Cybernetic life form found. You are not a Cylon." The next U-87 said. Hydra and Animal both kept firing taking down the next two Cylons before they both ran out of ammo with three more still stood in the corridor. Hydra dived for her extra clips that were inside the locker.

"It's been an honour guys." Animal said, he turned and winked at Bria before diving for the nearest U-87 that had started to come into the room. Bria grabbed the metal pole her clothes were hanging from in her locker and pulled it with all her strength. As Hydra reloaded her gun she turned to see one of the Cylons simply snap Animal's neck killing him instantly.

Sergeant Jennings and his squad had heard the gunfire and were heading towards it as fast as they could. As they neared the Pyramid court they saw two of the Cylons turn and run in the opposite direction. Jennings opened fire but the two robots kept on going ignoring him. When they reached the locker room where the monsters had been firing into they saw Animal dead on the floor and a downed Cylon on top of Hydra trying to choke her. Bria and one of the other raptor pilots on it's back trying to drag it off her. Jennings drew his side arm and ran into the room.

"Get out of the way." He shouted pulling Bria and the other man off the Centurion. It turned to look at him as he put his gun to the side of its head and fired several shots before kicking it off Hydra. The robot had now stopped moving but Jennings kept firing until there were no more rounds in his gun.

Hydra gasped for air as Bria came to her side.

"You okay?" Bria asked.

Hydra nodded her head in reply.

"I thought with those arms you'd have super strength or something." Jennings said with a smile.

"I've got artificial arms, I'm not a fraking superhero." Hydra replied.

Jennings let out a laugh before turning to his men, "Get after them." He ordered.

….

Carrie and Wedge had both heard the gunfire behind them.

"Should we go back and see if everything is okay?" Carrie asked.

"No we shouldn't." He replied taking hold of her arm and walking down one of the side corridors. Before they could get fully out of view the two U-87's appeared behind them.

"RUN." Wedge yelled as he opened fire hitting the first Cylon.

Carrie sprinted ahead. She turned to see Wedge following slower. She turned around looking for somewhere they could find cover, she stopped when she saw the word "Armoury" on a door. She went to open the door and saw a panel for an access code. Wedge grabbed hold of her and pulled her back down the corridor. He saw an open door and pushed her through before taking some cover himself as the U-87s came down the side corridor. Wedge opened fire again taking out the first Cylon. The second U-87 paused for a moment to return fire giving Wedge the seconds he needed to reload when he emptied his first clip.

On the CIC the Commander watched helplessly as Wedge returned fire with the oncoming Cylon. She watched as Wedge tried to reload again. The people on the CIC saw him look up just as the Cylon reached him and hit him around the head knocking him out cold and dropping his weapon on the ground.

"Oh gods." Garrett said.

Carrie didn't freeze, she didn't hesitate, she dived for Wedge's gun as the Cylon lunged for her. She slid from under its grip and grabbed the gun. With the machine nearly on top of her she aimed and fired and kept firing until the magazine was empty. Her shots may have been wild but as they were so close each bullet hit the Cylon. As the marines Jennings had sent after the two U-87s appeared they saw the machine in a heap on the floor and Carrie holding an empty smoking gun. She kicked the machine to make sure it wasn't coming back for one last attack.

"Are you okay?" one of the marines asked.

Carrie nodded her head in reply, "Yeah but Wedge needs help."

Colonel Rae walked up along side the commander.

"Looks like she takes after her brother after all." Rae said.

"Where are the other Cylons?" Garrett asked.

"From what I can tell they seem to be heading in the same direction as Archangel and Grace. They appear to be heading to T Deck." Rae replied.

"Why would they go there?" Garrett replied.

"Parts of T deck are the least populated areas of the ship. They must be following Grace so they're looking for somewhere they can minimize any casualties." Rae said.

"Does anyone else seem to be heading in that direction?"

"Bojay and one of the nuggets seem to be following the Cylons."

"Six down, six to go." Garrett said, "I feel so fraking useless."

"Just have faith in the crew, they can handle this." Rae replied, "But for what it's worth I feel exactly the same."

….

As Archangel and Grace reached their destination. The room had a few crates they would be able to hide behind for cover. There was a ladder that led to a small control room at the top of the cargo bay.

"You need to find cover." Grace said.

"I'm standing with you." Archangel said.

"No you're not. I'm going to try and get them to stand down, I can't do that with you standing next to me."

"Stand near some cover, if this goes south things will get explosive." Archangel said with a grin.

Grace grabbed him by his collar and kissed him.

"I love you." She said.

"Love you too." Archangel replied.

Bojay and Jasper opened fire as soon as they saw the Cylon at the rear. Two of the Cylons turned and opened fire while the others carried on. Jasper was surprised as he fired at the metal monster. He had feared that when he had seen one of the face to face he would be terrified, that couldn't be further from the truth, he was loving this. As he reloaded his rifle he looked over at Bojay and clearly looked as though he was enjoying himself a little too much. When he started to shoot again he hit the closest Cylon in the head with a number of shots taking it out. As the second Cylon ran out of ammo both Bojay and Jasper moved out from their cover and hit it with everything they had. It collapsed under the hail of bullets.

"That was strangely gratifying." Jasper said.

"Well lets find the others and you can do it again." Bojay said with a smile.

Grace tried to look confident and not at all on edge while she waited for the Cylons to get to her. She looked over, one quick dive to the right and she would be behind cover. She had heard the gunfire from out side, now she could hear the sound of the Cylons as they got to the cargo bay. Her handgun was hidden in the back of her belt. Her rifle was behind the cargo containers to her right. But what kept her calm was the thought that Archangel was there as well. She let out a very slow breath when she saw the four remaining U-87s walk into the room. It had been so long since she had seen a Cylon this old. Despite being old they were still effective killers.

"You are the human Cylon model known as number 6?" one of the Cylons asked.

"Yes I am." She replied.

"We are at your command. We are here to rescue you." It replied.

"U-87s I would like you to stand down." Grace said.

"We are here to rescue you." Came the response.

"I do not need to be rescued." Grace said.

"You are Cylon."

"I order you all to stand down."

The U-87's stood silently for a few moments. Grace stood her ground, the only noise in the room the four moving red eyes of the machines. One after another the eyes stopped flashing as they fixed on her. As they all raised their weapons Grace dived for cover. As soon as the bullets began to fly Archangel used his teeth to pull the pins out of the two grenades he was holding before he threw them at the Cylons. As he dived back for cover he grabbed his weapon. When he looked out two of the robots were in pieces, while the other two had now turned their attention his way. Archangel opened fire. He hit one of the Cylons in its knee joint destroying it and making it fall to the ground. He fired at the second robot and missed before ducking back behind his cover. Grace opened fire herself clipping the second robot, making it split its attention between her and Archangel. As Archangel moved to open fire the Cylon he had hit had crawled towards him and grabbed the end of his rifle pulling it out of his grip and throwing it across the room. He grabbed one of his side arms as the Cylon grabbed his other arm in its painful grip, pulling Archangel towards it. Archangel pressed his sidearm to its head and fired several rounds at point blank range destroying its head. It released its grip. Archangel fired at the second machine that had all its attention on Grace. He hit the hand it was using to hold its gun destroying the gun and it's hand.

"MOVE." Archangel yelled to Grace. She dashed for the ladder and began to climb. Archangel bought himself a few seconds by shooting at the Cylon, the bullets hit but it kept coming. Archangel began to climb after Grace who was now on the gangway above him.

"Come on, hurry." Grace shouted to him.

As Archangel climbed he felt the Cylon grab his left foot and had to use all his strength not to plummet to the ground. He kicked the Cylons head with his free foot making it let go of him and continued to climb. He reached the top just seconds before the giant U-87.

"Get in that room." Archangel shouted as he opened fire again. The rounds hit the Cylon but didn't stop it. As he heard the click of an empty weapon he dropped it and reached for his second side arm. He raised it as the U-87 swung for him sending him crashing to the ground and his gun crashing to the ground below. He looked and saw Grace had moved to the room. She looked back and saw what had happened as Archangel turned back to look at the machine bearing down on him. So this was how he was going to die he though to himself and closed his eyes ready for the end. He opened them again when he heard gunfire. He saw the U-87 stumble before toppling over the edge to the ground below. Archangel looked and saw Jasper Vents standing on the gangway behind where the Cylon had been with a smoking rifle in his hand.

Archangel let out a laugh and smiled as he got to his feet.

"Thank you." He said.

"Are you alright Major?" Jasper asked as Bojay joined them on the gangway.

"Thanks to you." Archangel replied.

Grace rushed over to Archangel and kissed him before hugging the young nugget.

"Thank you." She said to him.

"You're both very welcome." Jasper replied.

"Are there any more?" Archangel asked.

"Not that we've seen," Bojay replied, "Communications are down so we can't get in touch with CIC. But we know for a fact that six toasters are down."

"Come on lets head to CIC." Archangel replied picking up his empty gun and reloading it.

….

On CIC the Commander had watched everything. She had felt helpless the entire time, while she knew they had taken casualties, they were lucky they were only minimal.

"Commander," Colonel Rae said, "Communications are back online and as far as we can tell all the Cylons have been destroyed."

"End lock down," Garrett replied, "And put me through to the ship."

She walked over to the dradis console and picked up her handset.

"All hands this is the Commander. All the Cylons have been destroyed. Any casualties should be taken to sickbay immediately. We have lost people today but once again we have stood together and we are victorious. All department heads should send damage reports to the CIC as soon as possible. You've all done yourselves and me proud today. We will be rejoining the fleet shortly."

She put the handset down and let out a sigh, this was her fault, she should never have ordered that ship to be brought onboard, now people were dead and their blood was on her hands.

….

Captain Malcolm Reynolds felt out of his depth as he walked into the room full of the Quorum, the Vice President and the President. He couldn't help but feel he was treading on the Commander's toes even though she wasn't here.

"Captain do you have any news for us?" The President asked.

"Yes sir. We finally managed to trace the transmission to the Pacifica, one of the smaller liners in the fleet. I sent a squad of marines aboard and they found the broadcast equipment for the message but no one was there. The message was pre-recorded. They had it rigged up so we weren't able to disable it once it began broadcasting, which is another reason it took us so long to find where it was coming from."

"Did you check the entire ship?" one of the Quorum asked.

"Yes they did, everyone on the ship checks out. We're no closer to finding them." Reynolds said.

"Thank you Captain, please keep us informed of anything you find." The President said.

"Of course sir."

"One more thing, have you heard anything from Orion?"

"Not yet sir, once again as soon as we do you will be the first to know."

"Thank you Captain I'll let you get back to your ship."

As Reynolds left the room the Quorum erupted in chatter. Milo looked at Skeeter and nodded, Skeeter whistled loudly enough for everyone to stop talking and look over.

"Now is not the time for this. I'm going to speak to the press, put what Mr Grayson said into some kind of truth for the people of the fleet."

"That sounds like a good idea." The Vice President replied.

"I have to say though some of the things he said worry me more because it means we have some leaks at high levels. Once Orion gets back I'm going to have Commander Garrett get to the bottom of this once and for all. I'm also going to have Orion search the entire fleet for Mr Grayson and anyone else who isn't on any of our lists. The NCO are stepping up whatever they're planning and we need to strike first."

….

Before Archangel went to CIC he walked with Grace back to sickbay. Panic struck when he saw his sister sitting talking to a medic.

"Are you okay? I thought you were in the Pyramid arena?" Archangel said.

"I'm fine, I got out and went looking for you." Carrie replied.

"You did what?"

"It was okay I was with Wedge."

"Is he still alive? If he is he won't be much longer." Archangel replied.

"Hey, you listen to me, Wedge is okay but he was injured saving my neck from the Cylons and what's more I don't need you to protect me. I'm not some weak little victim and if you must know I took out a Cylon myself. Plus this isn't Wedge's fault, I was coming looking for you with or without him, he came along to help me. I love you, you're my brother but I don't need wrapping in cotton wool and I don't need you threatening or intimidating anyone who comes anywhere near me."

Archangel stood in front of her lost for words. Everyone was looking at them and he could tell Archangel being put in his place amused them.

"I'm sorry." Archangel said, "I don't mean to smother you. You're my sister, I've just found you and I'm not prepared to loose you. The way I am, it's just the way I am. I automatically want to protect people, especially you."

"I know and I appreciate that, I'd still be stuck on the Medstar if it wasn't for you but you don't need to protect me every day."

"So are you and Wedge erm are you and Wedge?"

"I don't know what Wedge and I are but I am going to find out and you're not going to give him a hard time."

"Okay." Archangel replied, "I'm just glad you're okay."

….

While the President was quickly preparing a speech to give to the people of the fleet Skeeter sat looking at the fleet out of the giant window. Relief hit him when Orion appeared in a giant blue flash where it was supposed to be.

"They're back." Skeeter said.

"Thank the gods." Milo replied.

….

Jasper Vents dried his face after shaving and looked in the mirror. It had been quite an eventful day. As he turned around his way was blocked by the looming figure of Jawbreaker.

"With all due respect sir I'm not in the mood." Jasper said.

Jawbreaker just looked down at him for a few moments before holding out his hand. Jasper didn't know what to do, he took a deep breath before shaking the giant man's hand.

"I'm only hard on you because you're a nugget, not because of who you are. You need to be hard to do this job, you need to face your fears everyday. We all know what you did today, you stepped up and you saved lives. More importantly you saved the CAGs life. If it weren't for you he would just be another picture on the memorial corridor. You did fraking good and when you finish your training, you're welcome in green wing."

Jasper was completely shocked by this and for a few moments didn't know what to say at all.

"Thank you."

"You're very welcome." Jawbreaker replied, "Come on, I owe you a drink."

Jasper smiled, "Yeah thanks that sounds great."

….

Commander Garrett sat in her quarters. It had been one hell of a day, the Cylons, the NCO and then having to spend two hours in a press conference had taken its toll on her. She sat looking at her computer screen, watching footage of what had happened aboard that day. She touched the screen and opened the footage of Archangel in the cargo bay. She watched as Archangel scrambled across the gangway firing at the Cylon before he ran out of ammunition and was knocked on the ground. She watched as Jasper Vents appeared and saved Archangel then she watched as Archangel and Grace hugged and kissed each other. Garrett paused it on them kissing and looked for a few moments as tears ran down her face. She wiped them away and switched off the computer. She remembered the conversation they had had when he had said, "In another life." Right now she wished more than anything else they were living that life.


	20. Danny

TWENTY YEARS BEFORE THE FALL

Danny Maples sat by himself as he always did at lunchtime looking out over the school playground. The huge oak tree he sat under shaded him from the sun that poured down over the small town of Freedom. This was the part of school he enjoyed the most, eating the food his mother had made for him as he watched the other kids play. Even at eight years old he knew he was different from the other kids, he knew he wasn't as smart but it didn't bother him. He did his schoolwork at his own pace and spent his evenings playing with his toys and reading his comics. He didn't have many friends, he had never been sure why but like everything else in his life he accepted it. His mother had always told him that the gods never gave a person more than they thought he or she could handle. When he thought about it his life was good, it could just be a little better in certain places. As he finished his sandwich and took out his apple he noticed the four boys that were walking towards him. He didn't like them and for some reason they didn't like him. Usually he was able to get his lunch eaten before they would come and pick on him and tease him. He closed his lunch box and stood up ready to walk away.

"Hey Maples where do you think you're going?" one of the boys yelled.

"Please leave me alone." Danny replied.

"Why would we do that?" he replied, "When you're so much fun to beat up."

The boy pushed Danny as he finished speaking him making him fall to the floor. He hit the ground with a thud. Before he could get back up the boys began kicking and hitting him. Then as suddenly as it had started it stopped. Through the tears Danny looked up and saw two other boys had appeared and they were fighting with them ones who always picked on him. The four boys backed off.

"The next time you pick on him you have to deal with us." The brown haired boy who came to Danny's defence shouted. The four boys turned and ran as fast as they could.

"Are you okay?" The blonde boy of the two asked.

Danny nodded his head, "Thank you."

"You're welcome, what's your name?" the blonde boy asked.

"Danny, Danny Maples." Danny replied as they helped him up.

"I'm Mark Hunter and this is Mikey Kent." Mark said.

"Thanks for helping me." Danny said with a smile.

"You should hang round with us Danny, we'll make sure they don't pick on you again." Mikey said.

PRESENT DAY

Skeeter wasn't in the best of moods. The President's Chief of Staff Thomas Jones was late for work again. He wasn't answering any calls made to him. Judging by how drunken Skeeter had seen him the night before he expected to find him passed out in his quarters. The President was as annoyed as he was, this wasn't what Skeeter was supposed to be doing, looking for someone who clearly had no interest in his job. Skeeter had already checked the bars Thomas drank in as they had been on the way to his quarters but there was no sign of him. As he turned into the corridor that led to Thomas' quarters he saw someone running out of them and turning the opposite way from Skeeter.

"HEY." Skeeter shouted.

Whoever it was didn't stop they just kept running. Skeeter ran to the doorway and looked inside. He could see Thomas face down on the ground. Skeeter ran over to him. Thomas was laying face down in a pool of his own vomit passed out. Whoever had been in the room had clearly been looking for anything they could take. Skeeter nudged him with his foot.

"Hey wake up." Skeeter said.

There was no response, Thomas just started to snore. Skeeter covered his nose from the smell and turned Thomas over, whom now, covered in his own vomit started to stir.

"Wake the frak up." Skeeter yelled.

As Thomas opened his eyes he groaned.

"Frak, my head hurts."

"For gods sake, not only are you two hours late for work look at yourself you're covered in your own puke." Skeeter said stepping back from him.

Thomas sat up and looked at himself.

"Oh man," he said, "I think I've shit myself."

Skeeter's temper was close to boiling point.

"Get your fraking act together and get in the gods dam shower, the President wants to see you."

Thomas held out his hand for Skeeter to help him up.

"You have to be fraking kidding me." Skeeter replied taking another step back from the man.

Thomas got himself to his feet and staggered into his bathroom.

"You've got ten minutes." Skeeter said walking over to the phone. Moments later he was talking to the President.

"Mr President this is Skeeter, I've found Thomas face down in a pool of his own vomit, he's showering and then I'll bring him straight to you."

The President was not happy at this news, "Thank you Skeeter, sorry you had to deal with this."

"Not at all Mr President, I'll see you in a minute."

As Skeeter put down the phone he surveyed the room. Whoever had been in here while Thomas had been passed out he had been through everything, he had no idea what could have been taken. Skeeter looked at all the bottles of alcohol on the table in the middle of the room, some of them were empty, and the others well on their way to being the same. There was an ashtray that clearly hadn't been emptied in weeks. This was the first time in a long time that Skeeter wanted a cigarette himself, Thomas was pushing him to the edge.

Minutes later Thomas appeared in a clean shirt and trousers and took some painkillers.

"What the frak are you playing at?" Skeeter said, "You have a job to do and instead you're drinking yourself to death."

"It's none of your fraking business why I drink so much." Thomas said putting on a suit jacket.

"It is when I'm the one who has to come and find you. Get your fraking act together."

….

When Thomas walked into the President's office he knew he was in trouble.

"Sit down." Milo said.

Thomas sat down in front of the President while Skeeter stood off to the side.

"Explain yourself." Milo said.

"I drank too much and didn't set an alarm, I have no excuse."

"You drank too much? Thomas you come into work nearly every day with a hang over, your work is sloppy and you seem to have no interest in your job. Skeeter found you face down in your own vomit, it's not as though you like the odd drink, you're an alcoholic and it's effecting your day to day performance."

"I'm sorry sir, I'll stop drinking I promise." Thomas replied.

"This has been going on for months, you're gradually getting worse. I need someone I can rely on all the time and I don't think that person is you."

"Please sir, give me another chance." Thomas pleaded.

"You've had all the chances you're going to get, I'm sorry Thomas but you're fired."

"Mr President, please." Thomas said.

"Skeeter please escort Mr Jones out and make sure you get his pass from him." Milo said.

"Yes sir, Thomas please come with me." Skeeter said.

"You're going to regret this." Thomas said as he stood up throwing his pass at Skeeter before storming out of the room.

Skeeter walked with him till he was away from the President's offices.

"You need to get yourself some help before you kill yourself." Skeeter said.

"Frak you." Thomas replied before taking a swing at Skeeter. Skeeter saw it coming and blocked it, twisting the man's arm behind his back.

"You come near here again and I'll shoot you." Skeeter said, "That isn't a threat, it's a promise."

Skeeter pushed him away.

"You'll all be sorry." Thomas yelled as he walked away.

Skeeter took a deep breath and composed himself before heading back to the President, he could really do without this, he was looking forward to the days off he had coming up.

As he walked back into the President's office he looked up from some paper work.

"I'm going to have to find someone to replace him." Milo said.

"Sir if I may mention a suggestion?" Skeeter replied.

"Of course." Milo said.

"Major Hunter's sister, Carrie Spence was a PA for one of the VP's at one of the biggest companies on the Colonies. She's used to the pressure and competent."

"That's not a bad idea. I'll get in touch. Thank you."

….

Skeeter sat in his quarters looking through some old photos. He smiled when he saw one of him and Danny at the garage back on Freedom.

"I'm sorry Danny." Skeeter said.

"For what?" came the reply.

Skeeter looked up and he was sat in Danny's apartment above the garage on Freedom. Danny looked up and smiled.

"What are you sorry for Skeeter?" Danny asked.

"Not saving you back on Sagitarron." Skeeter replied.

"It wasn't your fault." Danny replied.

"But I was supposed to look after you, I promised your mother."

"And you did. What happened wasn't your fault, you couldn't be in two places at once."

"Still doesn't change the fact that I feel it was my fault."

Danny sat next to him on the sofa, "So what would change it?"

"I have no idea, going back in time and doing things differently, or switching places with you."

"What would that achieve? If you had died that day then things would have been very different. Chances are Archangel and the others would be dead as well."

"I doubt that." Skeeter replied with a laugh.

"I wouldn't be so sure. Think about all the times you saved his life or the lives of one of the others." Danny said.

"You would have done it if you had been there." Skeeter replied.

"You know for a fact that I used to freeze under fire sometime and with my hand how it was, it made things a lot harder."

Danny and Skeeter looked at his hand, it was fine, no sign of how badly damaged it had been at the marine base.

"So how's life in the fleet?" Danny asked changing the subject.

"Same as usual but I think I've finally found my place." Skeeter replied.

"But still you're not happy?" Danny said.

"That's the thing about guilt, it stops you from finding that happiness."

"So if the guilt were to go, if you could find some way of leaving it behind, what would make you happy?"

Skeeter thought for a few moments, "Bria." He said with a smile.

"I knew it!" Danny exclaimed, "I knew there was a girl."

"But that just brings up other forms of guilt, what happened with Alice, it's like I'm betraying her."

"Because you like someone else?" Danny asked, "I know I've never been that smart but wouldn't she want you to be happy? Find someone else so you wouldn't live your life alone?"

"I know, you're right, its just maybe I would be better living my life alone. Anyone who gets too close ends up dead."

"Everyone dies. Anyone could make that claim, especially now, everyone who lives in your fleet thinks that. You have to make the most of what you have. With what's to come you will need other people who are close to you."

Skeeter turned to look at Danny, "What do you mean what's to come?"

"The fleet has a long way to go before you'll find a home, before you'll find your salvation. There are a lot of hard times ahead, you won't always have Archangel, and you won't always have your friends."

"What's coming? What's going to happen to Archangel?"

Danny smiled, "First things first, find a way to forgive yourself, other people need you, people you don't even know yet."

Skeeter snapped too and awoke on the sofa in his quarters. He had nodded off. He looked down at the photo on his lap and smiled again when he saw Danny.

….

The next morning Skeeter was up early as usual, he walked through the corridors of the Caprican Sunrise to one of it's many dining rooms. Standing by the door of the dining room he saw a young man handing out leaflets. He recognised him, but wasn't sure where from. He handed Skeeter a leaflet. Skeeter looked down and saw it was for the NCO. The young man realised he had made a mistake giving it to Skeeter when Skeeter looked at him.

"You're NCO?" Skeeter asked.

He dropped the leaflets and ran. Skeeter took off after him. As he chased the boy Skeeter suddenly remembered where he had seen him before, he was the one who had come out of Thomas' quarters the day before.

"STOP." Skeeter yelled as he ran.

Skeeter wasn't surprised when he didn't stop. A crowd of people had slowed the boy down in front of him. Skeeter reached out to grab him, as he did another man appeared from nowhere in front of him knocking Skeeter to the ground. When he looked up the boy was gone and a giant man was looking down on him.

"You okay?" the man asked, "I'm so sorry you came out of nowhere."

He helped Skeeter to his feet.

"It's not your fault." Skeeter replied.

….

"That's very bold of them." Milo said, "Handing out these leaflets on this ship."

"Them coming out must have given them a new sense of bravery." Natasha Cobb replied.

"So how old was this boy?" Milo asked.

"Sixteen maybe," Skeeter replied, "He took off before I could find out anything."

"If we could find him, maybe we could get information out of him regarding the NCO." Natasha said.

"If he's that young how much information is he going to have?" Commander Garrett asked over the phone.

"Very true. Chances are all he's doing for them is handing out these leaflets." Milo replied.

"But he has to get them from somewhere?" Skeeter said, "We find him, we find out where he gets them from etc etc."

"That's a good idea." Milo said.

"It's your call Mr President and I will back whatever play you make." Garrett said.

"Thank you Commander, We will keep you informed." Milo replied.

As he hung up he looked up at Skeeter, "I want you to go take a walk, go see if you can find him again."

"Yes sir. What do you want me to do when I find him?" Skeeter asked.

"Bring him here." Milo replied.

As Skeeter walked out of the room he saw Carrie waiting outside to see the President.

"Hey." Skeeter said.

"Hey yourself. How are you?" she asked.

"Getting there," Skeeter replied, "It's been a tough week."

"You must be looking forward to some time on the Starburst at the end of the week?" she asked.

"Yeah you could say that. Are you coming?" he asked.

"Yeah I'll be there." She replied with a smile.

"Good luck in there," he said, "And well done taking out your first toaster."

"Thank you and thank you. It was an experience I don't want to have to repeat anytime soon."

"I know that feeling." Skeeter replied, "I have to go, if I don't see you before I'll see you at the weekend."

"I'll look forward to it."

As Skeeter walked off the door opened again and the President appeared.

"Miss Spence how lovely to see you please come in." he said shaking her hand.

"You too Mr President." She said as she walked in.

"Please take a seat, can I offer you a drink?" Milo asked.

"Yes please sir," she shook the Natasha's hand, "Very pleased to meet you Madame Vice President."

"Likewise." Natasha replied with a smile.

Milo handed them both a glass of Picon whiskey each.

"Right down to business," Milo said, "Have you thought about your future in the fleet, what you want to do?"

Carrie took a sip from her drink, "Well to be honest I'm not too sure. Living aboard Orion, seeing what they do everyday, I had thought about learning to fly raptors."

"But you haven't signed up for anything?" Milo asked.

"No sir, it was just a thought I'd had. I've been spending more time with my brother and Wedge, sorry Captain Manning and seeing what they do it made me feel like I owe it to them to help." Carrie replied, "Of course I've been dreading telling my brother that I've been thinking of that, I'm not sure how he would respond."

"Well before you do I have an offer for you, I'm assuming you'd already guessed that."

"To be honest I had no idea why you had asked me here sir."

"I've just had to let my Chief of Staff go, he wasn't up to the job. Skeeter tells me you were a PA before the attack in one of the biggest companies in the colonies."

"Yes sir I was."

"I need someone who is good at what they do, someone who I don't have to keep reminding to do things, someone who can keep up with me and give me a kick in the ass when I need it, someone who is reliable. I think you're that person."

Carrie looked surprised, "You're offering me a job?"

"Yes. Obviously you'll need to think about it. If you accept we'll sort you out with some quarters over here, some suits if you need any etc."

Carrie thought about it, it was something that she knew how to do but it would take her away from Orion.

"Sorry to bring this up straight away but how would time off be factored into this job? I've only just got to know my brother and I've started a new relationship with Captain Manning."

"Of course," Milo said, "You'll get time off to see them and we'll be on Orion quite often anyway. I guarantee that if you take the job it won't affect any of your new relationships."

"I don't need time to think about this," Carrie said, "Mr President I accept your offer."

Milo smiled, "Excellent."

….

Before the attack Skeeter had never been anywhere like the Caprican Sunrise. It, like the Starburst was a ship designed for a class of people he didn't belong to and never would. Everything was "luxury" or "high class". Even now sometimes he felt out of place. People would look at him as though he didn't belong. He wondered if there was anyone on this ship who before the Cylons attacked couldn't afford to be here. He stopped when he reached one of the huge balconies that looked down onto the biggest bar in the fleet below him. People were still dressed as though they were going to some kind of elite party or red carpet event, they acted like they were still rich and powerful people who mattered. When the fact was everyone was now the same irrelevant of how much you had in your wallet.

"It's a different world to what we're used to isn't it?" Danny asked from along side Skeeter.

"Sure is. Look at all those people, it's pathetic." Skeeter replied.

"They're just trying to hold onto something they had before, aren't you?" Danny asked.

"Look at me do I look like I did before?"

"Well I must admit I can't remember the last time I saw you wearing a suit." Danny replied with a laugh.

"No I'm not holding onto anything I had before. The only thing that is like it used to be is I never see Archangel."

"He's a busy man." Danny replied.

"Yeah he is, busy saving the fleet." Skeeter replied.

"Are you two still friends?" Danny asked.

"Yeah we're still friends. The only difference is you're not here and I didn't feel lonely before."

6 YEARS BEFORE THE FALL

When Skeeter pulled up to Danny's it looked the same as it had all those years ago when he first came here. He got out of his truck and walked up the garden path. Danny's mother always had a lovely garden. There were always beautiful plants everywhere. He knocked on the front door a few moments later he was met by Andrea Maples, Danny's mother. She smiled and hugged him the way she always did when he came round.

"Michael thank you for coming so quickly." She said, "Come in come in."

Andrea was the only person who called him Michael, she was the only person he would let call him Michael. Since his parents had died she had been like a mother to him.

"Please sit down." She said as they entered the living room.

On the wall next to him were posters in frames from some of the biggest music arenas on the colonies. Before Danny had been born Andrea had been the most popular operatic singer in all of the colonies. She had retired when she had become pregnant. When Danny had gotten a little older she did one or two concerts every year, but nothing like she used to.

"So is everything okay?" Skeeter asked.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. I've received some bad news Michael. I have terminal lung caner."

Skeeter felt like a truck had hit him, tears immediately began to well in his eyes.

"I'm so sorry," he said, "Is there nothing they can do to help you?"

"No there isn't."

Despite the tragic news she seemed calm and at peace with it all.

"How long do you have?" he asked.

"They told me I have three months. That was two months ago."

"Does Danny know?" Skeeter asked.

Andrea shook her head, "No he doesn't. I didn't want to spend the last few months we had together in sadness. I'm telling you because I have to go into hospital in a few days and I won't be coming home again. I'll tell him just before I go in."

"Okay." Skeeter replied, "Is there anything I can do?"

"That's the other reason I called you here. My solicitor has been helping me get all my paperwork together. I need someone to sign some paper work for the money that I will be leaving Danny. I was hoping that you will look after his money for him, there is no one else I trust with it."

"Of course," Skeeter said, "What do you need me to do?"

"Just to keep an eye on the finances and any keep in touch with the accountant who will be doing tax work for him. There is a lot of money here and I don't want anyone to be able to con him out of it. This house will be his as well, it's all paid for so there is nothing to worry about there. Would you sign this to say that you'll do it?"

"Sure, of course."

She handed the shell shocked Skeeter the paperwork and showed him where to sign.

"Will you keep an eye on him for me when I'm gone?" she asked.

Skeeter couldn't stop the tears any more, he nodded his head, "Of course I will."

"You know I thank the gods everyday for you, Mark and the others. Danny has the best friends he could ever want to have. Thank you."

Skeeter hugged her, "You're welcome." He said.

They heard the back door open and close as Danny got home. Skeeter wiped the tears from his face as he walked through.

"Hey mum hey Skeeter." He gave his mother a hug, "What are you doing round here?" he asked his friend.

"Michael came to see if you wanted to go out for a few drinks tonight." His mother replied.

"Sure thing Skeeter, I'll just need to get ready." Danny replied walking out of the room.

"Thank you." She mouthed to Skeeter.

Skeeter nodded in reply and wiped his eyes again.

TWO WEEKS LATER

As the coffin holding Danny's mother was lowered into the ground he turned to Skeeter and Archangel who were standing next to him. There were so many people who had come to pay their respects to Andrea Maples, most of then Danny had never seen before. Danny looked up at the sun which shone brightly in the sky and sighed to himself. His world had changed so much but he knew it would be okay. He had sat with his mother and she had told him everything would be okay, Skeeter would make sure he was okay and she would always be watching him. It didn't change the fact that he was more upset than he had ever been before but he knew it would all be okay eventually.

An hour or so later Danny sat with Skeeter and Archangel in Archer's bar drinking a beer.

"What's am I going to do now?" Danny asked.

"Anything you want." Skeeter replied.

"But I don't know," Danny replied, "I never really had to think about what I was going to do day to day before."

"I could always use some help at the garage." Skeeter said.

"Really? I'm good with engines." Danny replied.

"Really, come work with me." Skeeter said.

"Okay. So how long are you staying Arch?" Danny asked.

"The admiral gave me a couple of weeks so I could help you round here." Archangel said.

"That's good," Danny replied, "Are you enjoying the Atlantia?"

"Yeah I am," Archangel replied, "It's been a lot of fun so far. They've just asked me to join the aerial display team."

"Wow that sounds amazing." Danny said.

"It is, no one my age usually gets asked, must have done something right."

Archer brought them their food over and another pitcher of beer.

"Hey Danny just wanted to say I'm sorry about your mother. You let me know if you need anything okay?" Archer said with a smile.

"Thanks I will." Danny replied.

As they started to eat their food Danny looked up, "You know I've been thinking, I don't think I want to live in that big house all by myself."

"What are you thinking?" Skeeter asked.

"I don't want to live there without my mum. I want to sell it and get somewhere else." Danny replied.

"You sure?" Archangel asked.

Danny nodded his head, "Yes. I was wondering if I could live in the apartment above the garage?"

"Of course you can but you need to be 100% sure." Skeeter replied.

"I am." Danny said.

….

"There he is." Skeeter said as he looked down on the crowded bar. He saw the boy taking someone's wallet out of their pocket.

Skeeter quickly made his way down the stairs to the bar below. He had managed to not loose sight of the boy. As he was just about to reach out and grab the kid he saw Skeeter and bolted. Skeeter followed running at full pelt. For once he was glad he didn't smoke anymore, before there was no way he would have been able to keep up a chase like this. The kid darted through the winding corridors of the Caprican Sunrise and Skeeter managed to keep up with him.

"GET OUT OF THE FRAKING WAY." Skeeter yelled as he pushed his way through crowds of people.

The young boy dived towards the stair well and began running downwards. Skeeter followed missing three to four steps at a time.

"I just want to talk to you." Skeeter yelled as he ran.

When the boy reached the bottom deck of the ship he ran into the dark corridor before squeezing behind a grating. As Skeeter squeezed through as well he found himself in a pitch black tunnel.

"Well this is just great." Skeeter said to himself. He took his old lighter out of his pocket and lit it. The small tunnel went on for a couple of hundred yards before it opened out. The boy stood on the far side of the room. Skeeter looked around and saw he had converted the small space into a living area with boxes of supplies down one side and a make shift bed on the other. The young man was clearly scared of Skeeter.

"It's okay I'm not going to hurt you." Skeeter said.

"Then what the frak do you want with me?" the boy replied.

"Okay first I saw you robbing the quarters of someone who I think is an asshole so you're not getting into trouble for that, but I do need to talk to you about those NCO leaflets." He said pointing to the pile of them which were on the ground, "Have you been living here since the attack?"

The young man nodded his head, "Yeah, I had to find somewhere no one would find me."

"What are you doing with the NCO?" Skeeter asked.

"Nothing." The boy replied.

"So you were handing them out for no reason at all?" Skeeter replied.

"You'll kill me." He said.

"What? No one's going to kill you. Is that what they told you?"

"They said if I'm caught, if anyone from the NCO is caught we'd be thrown out of an airlock."

"Whoever told you that is lying to you."

"They said you'd say that."

"Look I promise no one is going to hurt you. Whoever told you this is lying to you and if it was someone from the NCO then it sounds like they've been lying to you about a lot of things."

"The NCO are the good guys."

"Really?" Skeeter replied, "This is where someone from the NCO shot me in the chest," Skeeter said showing him the scar, "These scars here are from where the NCO tortured me for hours. They are not the good guys."

The young man was confused, he didn't know what to say.

"I'm Skeeter, what's your name?"

He looked at Skeeter for a few moments before he replied, "Danny." He said.

"Danny why do you live down here?" Skeeter asked.

"Where else is someone like me going to live, they're not going to give me any quarters, I'm nothing."

"You should have been taken care of, once your name was on the census they should have made sure you had somewhere to live."

"I'm not on any lists, I don't have an ID card, the NCO looks after me. I do leaflet drops and other things for them and they make sure I have food to eat and am kept safe."

"What do you mean they make sure you have food to eat?"

"How the frak else am I going to eat, I don't have any money, I don't have anything except for what they give me."

"But money doesn't mean anything anymore, you can go to anywhere that has food in the fleet and eat, it doesn't cost anything."

"That's why I see people everyday paying for what they're given." Danny replied.

"They pay for it because that's who they are, that's what they do. The money they give the people that serve them is useless. These are people who are trying to cling on to any part of their old lives."

"But they told me. They said that they were the only ones who would help those like me."

"Those like you?"

"People who had nothing before the war, people who only have what they earn now."

"Where are your parents? Your family?"

"They abandoned me long ago. I've been living on the street for the last five years since my father's new wife decided she didn't want a son. I came home one day and the house was empty."

"How did you end up on the Caprican Sunrise?"

"Because I was outside a space port when the bombs started to drop. It's the best place to ask for money, people are in a good mood when they come back from vacation, they like to flash the cash. When the attack happened they let anyone onto the few transports that got away, I was one of the lucky ones. The NCO found me and offered me a job. There are more like me throughout the fleet, those who have nothing. There is no trace of us so we can move about easier. I'm not NCO, I just like to eat."

"I can help you," Skeeter said, "The President needs to hear all this, come tell him, and we can help you."

"If what you say is true they'll kill me if I tell what I know."

"I can protect you," Skeeter said, "You can trust me."

"That's what they said."

"They've been using you all this time. Telling you what they want you to think, keeping you under their control. Come with me and that all ends."

"I can't." Danny replied.

"Why?" Skeeter asked.

"Because I have to meet my contacts later today, they want me to take a package to someone on the ship."

Skeeter thought for a few moments, "Then you're going to keep that meeting. When they arrive they're going to find me waiting for them. When we have them we can find out more about the NCO."

"Shouldn't you get some help, they're dangerous men."

"So am I." Skeeter replied.

5 YEARS BEFORE THE FALL

Danny enjoyed fixing cars. He had finally found something in life he was good at. He looked up from the engine he was fixing when he heard a car pull up outside. He wiped his greasy hands on a rag and walked out to help the customers. He stopped when he saw who was standing there.

"Well look who it is." One of the two men who was standing there said, "We haven't seen you in years, not since we used to have so much fun during lunch break at school."

Even though he hadn't seen them in such a long time Danny recognised them men as two of the kids who used to tease him and beat him up at school.

"What do you want?" Danny asked.

"Well we had come for some gas but now you're here there's so much more to do."

"I don't want any trouble." Danny said backing off as the two men started to walk towards him.

"Not such a big man when your friends aren't here to fight for you."

Danny started to panic a little. He tripped over something as he backed away and went crashing to the ground. One of them grabbed him by the collar and punched him hard in the face.

"Please just leave me alone." Danny pleaded.

"But we're only just getting started." The man replied.

They dragged Danny inside the garage and closed the door behind them. Danny managed to get to his feet and punched the nearest one too him.

"That was unwise." The man said punching Danny and breaking his nose. He fell to the ground again as the two men started kicking him.

"Stop." Danny yelled.

Neither men had seen Skeeter appear behind them or saw the crow bar he swung at one of them hitting him in the back and making him fall to the ground. Danny had never seen Skeeter so angry. He threw the crowbar away and grabbed the other man who was still on his feet. Skeeter punched him as hard as he could breaking the mans jaw.

"Who the frak do you think you are?" Skeeter yelled as he punched him again, "Coming into our place and picking a fight with my friend."

As the other man got to his feet Skeeter let go of the one he had in his grip and turned his attention to him.

"Danny call the police." Skeeter said as he dived on the second man.

Danny ran into the office and picked up the phone, he dialled the number for the local sheriff, moments later there was an answer.

"Freedom Sheriff department how can I help you?" the woman on the other end asked.

"Please we need help, we're at Skeeter's garage and some men are here attacking us, please help." Danny said.

"We're sending someone over straight away." Came the reply.

"Please hurry." Danny said before hanging up the phone.

As he walked out of the office he saw Skeeter standing over the two men who were lying on the ground.

"You okay?" Skeeter asked.

Danny nodded his head.

"Yeah are you?" Danny replied.

"Yeah I'm good. Is the sheriff on his way?"

"Yes." Danny replied.

Skeeter opened the door that led outside. One of the men started to groan.

"I'll see you in jail for this." He said.

"I don't think so," Skeeter replied, "You're the one going to jail, coming into our place of business and attacking my best friend. When they take you away you better hope that I never see either of you again. You never come here again."

"I'm not scared of you." The man said spitting out a mouthful of blood.

"Well you should be," Skeeter replied, "I'm a very dangerous man."

….

Skeeter sat with the young boy as they waited for his NCO contacts to arrive. It was a small world that someone else called Danny would need his help so much. Danny held a rolled up book tightly in his grip.

"What's with the book?" Skeeter asked.

"It's my lucky book." Danny replied.

"Lucky book?"

"Yeah this book kept me alive." As he unrolled it Skeeter read the cover. "Survival by Karl Michaels" was printed on the front.

"I never knew Michaels had written a book." Skeeter said.

"Oh yeah he has a few. This book taught me how to survive with just what you have around you. When we had no money we were able to find things to eat."

"We?" Skeeter asked.

There was sadness in his eyes as he began to speak again, "Melissa. She was with me before the attack. We found a cabin that we lived in. One of us would go into the city and try and get some money or some food and the other would stay with the cabin to make sure no one else took it. It was my turn to go into the city when the attack happened. I have no idea if she died on Caprica or not."

"She could have been picked up." Skeeter replied.

"If she has she'll probably be in the same position I've been in and won't be on any of the lists." Danny replied sadly.

"When this is over we'll see if we can find her." Skeeter replied.

"Thank you." Danny replied.

"So Michaels wrote a book?" Skeeter said.

"Oh yeah, there were four of them, I had the others back in the cabin as well."

"Do you want to meet him?" Skeeter asked.

"He's in the fleet?"

"He sure is. He was in our group of survivors back on Sagitarron."

"You know him?"

"Yeah, he saved my ass more times than I can remember. He lives on the Starburst, he teaches survival to people."

"Do you think he would teach me?" Danny asked with a smile.

"I'm sure he will." Skeeter replied.

Danny smiled from ear to ear as he looked at his book.

"Not that I'm not grateful but why are you helping me?" Danny asked.

"Because you need it and because you remind me of my best friend who died on the Colonies. I was always looking out for him." Skeeter replied.

"Did he die when the bombs dropped?" Danny asked.

"No a centurion killed him." Skeeter replied.

"I'm sorry."

"He was the kindest person I've ever known. He tried to see the best in everyone, even when they didn't deserve it."

"You blame yourself for him being dead?" Danny asked.

Skeeter nodded his head, "Yeah I do. Not being able to save him will haunt me for the rest of my life."

"You know I felt the same way about Melissa. I thought that she should have been in the city instead of me. I beat myself up about it every day."

"What changed?" Skeeter replied.

"Because she wouldn't want me too. Would your friend want you to feel like this? To blame yourself?"

"No he wouldn't but it's easier said than done."

"Why is it? The only person who is stopping you from feeling better is you."

"How old are you kid?" Skeeter asked.

"Seventeen." Danny replied.

"How did you get so wise?" Skeeter said with a laugh.

They both stopped talking when they heard a noise at the door. Danny moved away from Skeeter who went to hide in the shadows. Moments later two men walked into the room. Paul Jenkins and Neil Andrews closed the door behind them. Skeeter immediately recognised Paul Jenkins. He couldn't believe his eyes. The last time he had seen the man he had been in a bloody heap on the floor of his garage after he had attacked Danny all those years ago.

"You been handing out those leaflets we gave you?" Neil asked.

Danny nodded his head, "Yes."

"Good." Neil said handing Danny a box of emergency rations.

"We need you to take a package to suite 649. Same rules as usual apply, don't open it and don't ask any questions." Paul said.

"Not a problem." Danny replied.

"You keep this up and there may be an opening for you higher up in the organisation." Paul said.

"Shame he won't be able to take it." Skeeter said moving out from the shadows with his gun raised. He shot Neil in the knee.

"Well look who it is." Paul said, "It's been a long time."

"Not long enough." Skeeter replied.

"What the frak are you doing?" Paul said, "Do you know who we work for?"

"Yeah I know, that's why I'm doing this. Danny go call ship security." Skeeter said.

The young boy ran out of the room.

"You going to put that gun away so we can deal with this like men?" Paul asked.

Skeeter took off his jacket and put the gun back in its holster.

"I'm going to enjoy this." Paul said as he lunged at Skeeter.

Skeeter blocked Paul's attack but connected with his once again breaking Paul's nose. He fell backwards seconds before Skeeter hit him again making him fall to the ground. Neil grabbed hold of Skeeter's leg. Skeeter turned and kicked him in the face as hard as he could knocking the man out cold.

"You know I always wanted to see you again. That last time in the garage all those years ago, it just left me feeling, well disappointed." Skeeter said picking him up by the collar and punching him again.

"It always felt to me that there was unfinished business." Skeeter punched him a couple more times as hard as he could, "You know Danny was a better man than you'll ever be and you know what he got for that?" Skeeter punched the bloodied man twice more, "He got a brutal death at the hands of one of those metal fraking monsters."

Skeeter let go of him and he dropped to the floor. He kicked Paul as hard as he could in the stomach, "I've been thinking a lot about Danny over the past week and I keep coming back to how you and your punk friends used to torture him."

Paul mumbled something prompting Skeeter to kick him hard in the face.

"I wasn't finished talking. Danny deserved a lot better than he got. Those moments when you attacked him, his last moments when he died I let him down, I went back on my word. I've killed Cylons, both human and metal but it doesn't make me feel any better about it. Now I find that you're one of the ones responsible for what is happening to that poor kid and probably others in the fleet. Scared kids, kids who have lost everything, that we should be taking care of and to see that once again you're making someone life hell makes me feel rage the likes of which I've never felt before. It's ironic that a kid called Danny was the one who brought me back to you, I think it's called poetic justice." Skeeter bent down and wiped his hands on Paul's jacket. He stood back up and took his gun out from its holster.

"Please don't kill me." Paul managed to plead.

"I couldn't save Danny, I wasn't there, but I can save this Danny." Skeeter said before shooting Paul in the head.

As Skeeter put his gun back in its holster, closed his eyes and took a slow deep breath.

"Do you feel better?" Danny asked.

Skeeter opened his eyes and saw his friend standing there.

"Actually I do. I couldn't save you, but I saved him."

"There are a lot more people out there who need your help."

"And they'll get it." Skeeter replied.

He turned and walked back down the small walkway and back outside. Danny stood waiting for him.

"Security are on the way." Danny said.

"You're going to be okay now." Skeeter replied.

"Thanks to you." Danny replied.

….

Skeeter sat waiting for the President to finish on the phone. He had no idea how much trouble he was going to be in for killing Paul, honestly he didn't care. He saved a life today and because of it hopefully more lives could be saved. Milo looked at Skeeter as he put the phone down.

"The prisoner has been treated by Dr Hammond and Major Hunter is going to question him."

"I wouldn't like to be him." Skeeter replied.

"Neither would I. You did some good work today, this could really help us get to the NCO. Now we also know about all the people who are being used by them to do things. But I want to ask you about the man you killed. What exactly happened?"

"We fought, he lost." Skeeter replied.

"Come on I think you owe me more of an explanation than that?" Milo said.

Skeeter sighed to himself, "I knew him from before."

"You mean on Sagitarron?"

"Yeah. I've had dealings with him all through my life. He used to beat up my friend Danny. The last time I saw him, he and his friend had dragged Danny into the garage and were beating the hell out of him. When I saw it was him that was making this kids life hell and that he was in the NCO I saw red. The fact that my best friend who was the kindest man you could ever meet had such a brutal end and that son of a bitch had survived. Not only had he survived but he was still doing what he was best at. I won the fight and I killed him. If he had won he would have done exactly the same thing to me."

"So it was revenge?" Milo asked.

Skeeter sighed, "Yes sir it was. I understand if you need to take this further."

The President looked at him for a few moments, "In the last couple of months I think I've gotten to know you pretty well, the kind of man you are. You're a good man of that I have no doubt. He tried to get your gun from you and in the struggle he was accidentally shot in the head."

"Are you sure sir?" Skeeter asked.

"Of course I am, that's what happened after all." The President replied.

3 DAYS AFTER THE FALL

Skeeter and Danny sat in the small camp they had made playing cards. Archangel and Grace were both sat together talking.

"This is just like camping." Danny said.

"Except we're being chased by Cylons." Skeeter replied with a smile.

"I know but other than that," Danny said, "It's been nice spending so much time with you and Archangel and Grace seems really nice, I like her."

Skeeter took a drag from his cigarette and picked up another card, "You're okay though yeah?"

Danny nodded, "Of course I am. No matter what happens to me I'm with my best friends. I could die tomorrow and I'd be happy as long as was with you guys."

"Don't say that." Skeeter said.

"But it's true and I want you to remember that in case anything ever happens to me." Danny replied.

"Nothing is going to happen to you buddy, I won't let it." Skeeter replied with a smile.

….

Three days later Skeeter walked into the biggest and most luxurious bar on the Starburst. It had been a testing week, but it had ended well. He intended to enjoy his few days off. He smiled when he saw all his friends sat round a large table. Archangel, Vannick, Bria, Carrie, Michaels, Brother Ramok and even Mike had made the effort to come over. It was an important day and he was glad he was going to celebrate it with those closest to him.

"No Grace?" Skeeter asked.

"She sends her apologies but she had something that she couldn't put off." Archangel replied.

As Skeeter sat down Vannick handed him a drink, "Still thank you all for coming." He said.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." Michaels replied.

Skeeter raised his drink, "I would like you all to raise your drinks and help me toast the birthday of one of the kindest most loyal friends anyone could ever want to have. Happy birthday Danny Maples."

"Happy birthday Danny." Everyone else said before taking a sip from their drinks.

"And here comes the newest member of the gang." Vannick said as Danny walked over. The young man seemed nervous about joining them but sat down anyway.

"So how are you finding things here?" Skeeter asked.

"Brilliant," Danny replied, "Michaels has been showing me around the polar dome."

Vannick handed Danny a glass of beer.

"I'm not old enough." Danny said.

"I won't tell." Vannick replied patting the young man on the shoulder.

"Before you get to attached to that seat there's something I need to show you." Skeeter said standing up.

"Of course." Danny replied.

"We'll be right back guys."

Danny followed Skeeter to the other side of the bar.

"Is everything okay?" Danny asked.

"I have someone here who wants to see you." Skeeter replied.

Skeeter pointed over to the other side of the bar. Danny turned and couldn't believe his eyes.

"Melissa?" he said rushing over to her and hugging her, "I thought you were dead."

"It's so good to see you." She said giving him a kiss.

Danny turned round and gave Skeeter a hug, "Thank you." He said.

"You're very welcome. Come on lets celebrate." Skeeter replied walking back over to the table.

"That was a nice thing you did." Bria said leaning over to him.

"He deserved something good after what he's been through." Skeeter replied.

Bria smiled at him.

"Would you like to dance with me?" Skeeter asked.

"I thought you'd never ask." She replied taking hold of his hand.

….

Commander Garrett stood with the President on Orion's CIC.

"This is all very good news." Milo said, "We should be able to find more NCO with this information."

"He wouldn't speak at first but Archangel can be convincing." Garrett replied.

"Since the press conference yesterday we've had twenty three people come forward who weren't on any of the lists. With the names of their contacts that are coming through we should be able to hit the NCO quite soon."

"Good I'm glad. It's about time we showed the fleet the kind of people they're turning towards." Garrett said.

"Dradis contact." Lt Taylor said as dradis began to beep. Her face gave away the horror of what she was seeing, "Forty Cylon base ships have surrounded us."

"Set condition one throughout the fleet give the order to jump." Garrett said.

"Oh my gods, Commander we've just lost ten ships, they Cylons have destroyed them." Taylor said.

"Load EMPs into every tube and fire as soon as they're ready." Garrett ordered.

"Commander I have one of the Cylon base ships on the line, they want to speak with you directly." Taylor said.

Garrett and the President picked up handsets in front of them.

"Commander Garrett we have no desires to destroy any more of your fleet," The Cylon voice said, "We have nuclear missiles locked on all civilian ships, if you continue your jump prep we will continue to fire, Orion and your battle group may survive but how many other ships in the fleet do you think will make it by the time they're ready to jump?"

"Lieutenant tell all ships to stand down from the jump." The President said.

Taylor looked at Commander Garrett who took a deep breath before nodding in agreement.

"What do you want?" Garrett asked.

"We want to make peace with you. We want you to stand down and stop all this destruction. We will give you two minutes to decide, after that we will destroy another ship every thirty seconds until either you escape or everyone has been killed, the choice is yours." The line went dead.

"We have no choice." Milo said.

"Oh we have a choice." Garrett replied.

"And how many people are you willing to sacrifice for the wrong decision?" Milo replied.

"Frak." Garrett replied.

"Realistically how many of the Baseships do you think you can hit before they fire a nuke?"

"Not enough." Garrett replied.

Moments later the number 2 came back on the COM.

"Have you made your choice?" he asked.

"I want your guarantee that no one else will die." Milo said.

"Ah Mr President, excuse my rudeness I didn't realise you were there. If you stand down no one else has to die. We're here to unify our two races, to make peace."

Milo took a deep breath, "Then we surrender."

"Please inform the people of your fleet of what has happened," the 2 replied, "There is one more thing. We want Major Hunter to board a raptor and fly to the nearest base ship, he has thirty minutes, if by that time he isn't with us we will destroy the Starburst. We will be coming to Orion shortly, we look forward to finally meeting you Commander."

"Get Archangel on the horn." Garrett said.

"Yes ma'am." Taylor replied.

"Colonel destroy all the samples of Pandora as quickly as possible and put EMP lockdown into place."

"Yes ma'am." Rae replied.

….

Archangel lay in bed with his arm around Grace in the quarters they had been given on the Starburst.

"I can't remember when I was this relaxed." Grace said.

"I know what you mean," Archangel replied, "I intend to make the most of the next few days."

As he finished speaking the phone by the side of the bed started to buzz.

"What the frak now?" he said as he picked it up, "Archangel."

"Archangel this is Garrett we've been surrounded by an armada of base ships."

"My gods, do I have time to get back to Orion to help before we jump?"

There was a pause on the other end, "They destroyed ten of our ships then asked us to surrender or they would continue to fire on us until we could jump. The President has issued a complete surrender."

"Frak me." Archangel replied.

"They have said if you are not on the nearest base ship within the next thirty minutes they will destroy the Starburst."

"I'm on my way." Archangel said without even hesitating.

"Mark I'm sorry." Garrett said.

"Just make sure you don't leave without me," Archangel replied, "Be safe Vanessa."

He got out of bed as and stood up.

"What's wrong?" Grace asked.

"We've been attacked by a Cylon armada. We've surrendered." Archangel replied.

"What? Why? Orion is powerful enough to…"

"They've destroyed ten civilian ships and we would have lost a lot more if we hadn't. I have to go to them." Archangel said as he began to get dressed.

"No you can't, they want revenge for all you've done." Grace said frantic.

Archangel took hold of her and kissed her, "If I don't they're going to destroy the Starburst."

Tears began to fall down Grace's face.

"I want you to go find Michaels he'll help you to stay off their radar." Archangel said.

"No I should come with you." Grace replied.

"Please I'm begging you go to Michaels' I trust him completely, he'll help you."

….

Carrie, Skeeter, Vannick and Bria all stood on the Starburst's hanger deck as Archangel prepared to get into a raptor.

"Please don't go." Carrie said through her tears.

"I have to," Archangel replied giving her a hug, "I'll be okay."

Everyone couldn't believe what had happened.

"Remember whatever you do make sure they don't find out about it till you're ready to do it." Archangel said.

Vannick and Bria nodded, "We'll find a way to get you back as well." Vannick said.

"Just remember stay safe." Archangel said before getting onto the raptor.

As the raptor began to take off Skeeter saw Danny standing with them.

"This is what you meant isn't it?" Skeeter said quietly.

"Be strong," Danny replied, "When all seems darkest remember, you can stop their signal."

Skeeter turned but Danny was gone.

….

Ten minutes later Archangel touched down in one of the base ships hanger bays. As the side hatch opened he saw a dozen centurions, all with their weapons raised. Archangel put his hands up and stepped off the craft. There was one of all seven human Cylons standing in front of him as well.

"Welcome aboard Major." 3 said.

"I'm unarmed." Archangel replied.

"We're going to have some fun." 3 replied with a smile.


	21. One Jump

It was a clear sunny day on Caprica. Mark Hunter sat outside a bar in Caprica City watching the world go by. The sun felt good on his face. It felt as though he had not felt it in a long time. He closed his eyes a took a slow deep breath. He picked up the glass of beer in front of him and took a sip from it. It was cool and refreshing on such a warm summers day. The worries of his day to day life seemed a mile away, no vipers, no black ops missions, just this. It was early in the afternoon and the street in front of him was busy with life, people going about their work and day to day shopping routines. Business men and women on their cell phones trying to broker deals to make them richer, mothers with their children taking them food or clothes shopping. These things felt so alien to him. He lived on a Battlestar, he ate in the mess, his uniforms and flight gear was provided for him. It seemed like a very rare occurrence for him to need to wear civilian gear. Even though he felt relaxed something was nagging him, something he couldn't quite put his finger on. There was something he was forgetting to do, something urgent that he couldn't remember. It couldn't be that important he thought, if it was he would be able to remember it. He looked up and saw the Buccaneers stadium, it loomed over everything in the area. The giant vid screen on the side showed images of its many players, he thought there must be a game on, they only usually show the players like this on game day.

The silence was broken by a familiar voice.

"Sorry I'm late." Skeeter said as he sat down next to his friend.

"It's okay," Archangel replied, "I was just enjoying the sun."

"Nice spot, do you drink here often?" Skeeter asked.

Archangel had to think for a moment before he answered, "No I don't think so. No this is the first time I've been here."

"Anywhere that sells beer is good." Skeeter replied, "Spit and sawdust pubs, bars, arenas anywhere."

Archangel smiled.

"It's nice to feel the sun again." Archangel said.

"It's been a while hasn't it." Skeeter replied.

"Too long."

"Look who it is." Skeeter said.

Archangel looked up and saw his sister Carrie walk over to them.

"Mind if I join you?" she asked.

"I'd be offended if you didn't." Archangel replied with a smile.

It always brightened his day to see his sister. Since she had come into his life he had found something he never knew he had been missing. As his best friend and his sister smiled at him he knew something was wrong. He was on Caprica so why was Skeeter here? He had never left Sagittaron his entire life and he never knew his sister before the attack.

"Something's not right." Archangel said.

"What do you mean?" Carrie replied.

"You two shouldn't be here." Archangel said, "I never knew you on Caprica and you never came here."

He stood up, "Who the frak are you?"

"Archangel, buddy what's wrong with you?" Skeeter said, "You know who we are."

"This isn't right, Cylons fraking Cylons."

As he finished speaking there was a huge explosion. Archangel looked up and saw a nuclear detonation where the Buccaneers arena had stood just seconds before. People were running and screaming as buildings fell around them.

Archangel smiled as the skin bubbled on his best friend and sister, "YOU'LL HAVE TO DO A LOT BETTER THAN THAT!" he yelled as he laughed.

When he came too he was strapped to a chair surrounded by Cylons who were all looking down at him. He remembered everything that had been happening and continued to laugh.

"I told you that wouldn't work." 1 said.

"Nothing seems to work," a 4 replied, "He never believes it."

"Give him something to make him see things, throw him back in his cell and send in a 6, see if she has any better luck." 1 replied as he turned to walk out of the room.

4 looked down at the young pilot who was still laughing to himself as he injected him with more mind-altering drugs.

….

It had been nearly four months since the Cylons had taken control of the fleet. Four months of them being led through space under the control of just over thirty base ships. Orion's weapons were empty, its fighters grounded and much of its senior crew had been put into incarceration. The humans hadn't gone quietly. There had been resistance, bombings had been the favourite way of fighting back so far. Usually it ended up with the culprit's dead or civilians being detained. One of the first things the Cylons had done was to turn one of the smaller passenger ships into a floating prison, which was filling rapidly. Commander Garrett had been one of the first people put into the makeshift prison. When she had refused to give them the activation codes for the EMP warheads they took her away. Occasionally they would try and torture her for the information but so far she had managed to resist them. She sat by herself in the small cramped quarters that had belonged to a middle-aged man called Harold Thomas. She knew this because they had left most of his belongings behind. Harold had managed to bring with him a small library and Garrett had been reading the books to keep herself sane. All in all she didn't have it too bad, they fed her and she had a small room with a toilet, sink and shower. She hadn't had anyone to talk to now in nearly a month and that had begun to take its toll on her. Suddenly she could hear someone shouting outside, a man, she thought she recognised his voice but she couldn't be sure. She heard the door of the quarters next to her open and then slam shut before being locked. Garrett had found a small grate that led from where she was to the room next to her, but so far there had been no one in there that she could speak too. She rushed over to it and moved the suitcase she had used to cover it over.

"Hello can you hear me?" she said kneeling down next to it so she could speak directly into it, "Is there someone in there?" she asked.

She heard a noise before the reply she had been hoping for, "Hello. Is there someone there?" A mans voice replied.

Garrett smiled to herself, "Yes I'm here. Thank the gods I haven't spoken to anyone in a month, are you okay?"

"Yes I'm fine," he replied, "They haven't hurt me."

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Adam, Adam Grayson." He replied.

Suddenly she knew why she recognised his voice and it hit her like a ton of bricks.

"Hello are you still there?" Adam asked.

Garrett took a deep breath, "Yes I'm still here."

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Vanessa, Commander Vanessa Garrett." She replied.

The pause told her that he had the same realisation as she did.

"Then we have a lot to talk about Commander." He replied.

….

Bojay sat in his bunk reading a book. Orion had been on lock down since the Cylons arrived. The flight deck was out of bounds to everyone, he had had nothing to do. As far as he was aware he was the highest ranking officer on the ship. The crew were only allowed out of their bunks for four hours a day and then there were only certain areas of the ship they were able to go, the gym, the mess amongst them. There were centurions and skin jobs everywhere. When he heard the door to the room unlock he looked over at Bria before putting his book down.

"Vannick is meeting us in the gym?" she asked.

Bojay nodded before getting up and picking up his towel and boxing gloves. They walked in silence through the winding corridors, making sure they didn't make any eye contact at all with any of the toasters. When the two pilots entered one of Orion's many gyms Vannick was already waiting for them boxing gloves already on.

"Afternoon Captain." He said.

"Sergeant, ready to spar?" Bojay replied.

"Sure am sir." Vannick replied.

Bria helped him with his gloves. Others in the gym paid no attention to them at all as they went about their routines.

"How's Mike?" Bojay asked quietly.

"Well," Vannick replied, "He's nearly ready."

"Will it definitely work?" Bojay asked.

"He's 100% sure. In my experience with him that means it will work." Vannick replied.

"Have you heard any other plans throughout the ship?"

"Other than from the Colonel before she disappeared no. I did have to stop Wedge from squaring up to a 5 yesterday."

"How's he coping? I haven't seen him."

"Not good, he needs to vent his aggression and I'm worried he's going to do something stupid. Jawbreaker is keeping an eye on him. Any news about Carrie or Archangel?"

"Carrie is on lockdown on the Medstar after she punched that 5's nose into his brain and there has been nothing from Archangel. The Cylons want to have a meeting with me later on, I'm going to ask where they're taking us and when we're getting everyone back."

"Is there anything you want me to tell Mike?"

"Tell him to make sure he doesn't do anything until I've had this meeting later on. I'm hopeful that they're going to give me some news."

"Okay." Vannick replied.

Vannick took a swing at Bojay connecting with his jaw and putting him on his rear. When he looked up he saw the reason why, they were being watched by skin jobs.

….

One of each of the seven Cylons sat on one of the base ships having a meeting before going for Bojay.

"Are we sure that this is a good idea?" 6 asked.

"What would you prefer we do kill them all here and now?" 1 replied.

"Of course not, but putting all the humans in one place." 6 said.

"Other than a few bombings New Caprica seems to be working. At least if they're all in one place, we can "control" them easier. Once they're off Orion it's game over for them." 3 said.

"Has that kid Mike had any luck yet deciphering the codes for the EMPs?" 1 asked.

"No," 2 replied, "He did tell us the combinations could take him months to get through." 2 replied.

"Maybe we should find other ways to motivate him?" 3 asked.

"I don't think that will work with him. Garrett won't break under torture and if we want to be able to use them he is the only person who can help us." 2 said.

"He has till we make it to New Caprica, if he hasn't done it by then we get creative." 1 said.

"Has there been any news on Grace?" 6 asked.

"Nothing." 5 replied, "We think Karl Michaels has hidden her but we just can't find her. It would appear from what we can gather from his life before he was a survivalist this is what he did for the military and government, he made people disappear."

"Once again it's only a matter of time. When we reach New Caprica and everyone is off all the ships we either find her or we destroy all the ships in this fleet, killing her wherever she is hiding and then just wait for her to download." 1 said.

….

"So where do we start?" Adam Grayson said.

"How about how you've been murdering people and using others to do your dirty work." Garrett replied.

"Firstly I need you to know, whatever you think about me it's not true. Yes I joined the Twelve. They told me that they wanted to bring peace and stability to the fleet and stupidly I believed them. When I first met them I realised I stuck out like a sore thumb. They're all terrorists, gangsters, corrupt business men and the more time I spent with them I realised they just wanted control."

"So why didn't you leave them then and there?"

"Because stupidly I thought I could make them see sense and actually deliver the things they promised to me when I was first recruited. The further in I got the quicker it became apparent that I was stuck with them. They wanted me for my past on the colonies, for the fact I was a reputable man who fought for peoples well beings and freedoms. One thing I can tell you, what happened on that planet and what Mr Sagittaron did on that ship they were nothing to do with the NCO."

"How can you be sure?"

"Because of how Mr Caprica and the others responded. They were furious. If any of the people who had done those things had still been alive the Twelve would have killed them."

"So lets say I believe what you're saying, tell me about the Twelve."

"First things first I want some assurances from you."

"What?" Garrett replied.

"If I'm going to tell you everything I know and help you take the NCO down I want to know that when the dust settles I don't have to pay for what they did and that you'll help me find my daughter."

"If you help me take them down then you have my word that when it's all over you won't be prosecuted. And we'll help you find your daughter."

Adam took a deep breath, "The Twelve are not on any of the ships registers, neither are most of the NCO. We, they operate completely under the radar. I noticed quite early on that I was being kept out of any of the big decision making. Mr Caprica is in charge, before the attack he was a big time business man, from what I can gather as corrupt as they come, but to the Colonies he was a great man, gave to charities, made work for people shook all the right hands and was seen in all the right places. Miss Tauron was the head of the biggest crime family on Tauron. I heard Mr Caprica call her Adriana once. She goes everywhere with her son Nathan. He is the nastiest son of a bitch I've ever met. He can put the fear of the gods into you just by looking at you. I know he does all the families dirty work. He won't let anyone near his mother. I've heard stories that he has beaten people to death just for giving her a funny look."

….

Archangel groaned as he began to regain consciousness. It took his eyes a few minutes to adjust to the dark room. He could see a small light shining from the wall at the far end of the room and then he heard it. The buzzing noise from the eye of a centurion. He looked up and saw it standing in front of the open door. They had been taunting him with an open door since he arrived with just one Centurion guarding it. He tried to move his arms but his wrists were cuffed behind his back. His head was so foggy. He remembered the dream he had had on Caprica with Skeeter and his sister. He also remembered Grace, no it hadn't been Grace it had been just another 6. She had tried to get information out of him, he remembered that much. She had pretended to be Grace, told him she was here to rescue him. He remembered that at first he had believed it, he smiled, he cried with relief, then, he didn't want to think about what had happened after but he knew he had realised it was a trick, the same way they always tricked him, pumped him full of drugs and then made him believe it was her. He had no idea how long it had been going on. At first he had been able to keep track of the days, back when all they did was torture him for information. They had realised quite quickly that course of action wasn't going to work on him so that's when they tried to get creative. He looked up as the main lights in the room flickered on. The centurion stepped to one side and in walked a 1 and a 5.

"It's a little late for breakfast in bed." Archangel said sarcastically.

5 walked straight up to him and punched him hard in the face knocking him to the ground. Archangel laughed and got back to his knees.

"Now we've talked about this, that's just rude." Archangel said.

5 hit him again. This time Archangel didn't budge.

"Grace certainly was right about you." 1 said, "You are an impressive man. We've tried everything we can think of with you and still you won't break."

"I'm happy you're happy." Archangel replied with a smile.

"Before the end, which is coming soon you'll talk. We still have some more ideas. We haven't even brought in your best friend or your sister. I wonder how long it would take you to talk when you watch us cut them up."

Archangel didn't respond.

"But don't worry, we aren't at that stage yet." 1 replied, "Anyway 5 has something to ask you."

"What are the codes for Orion's EMPs?" 5 asked.

"No idea." He replied.

5 hit Archangel again.

"TELL ME THE CODES." 5 screamed.

Archangel let out a laugh, "You know you really are funny when you get angry."

5 punched him again. Archangel spat a mouthful of blood on 5's face and smiled.

5 wiped the blood away before grabbing the young man by the throat and continually beating him until he was unconscious. Without saying a word 1 and 5 turned and walked out of the room. Archangel lay on the ground, his right eye swollen and his nose broken. Blood ran from both his nose and his mouth. A 6 appeared at the door way and slowly walked in.

"Stand outside." She said to the centurion who immediately followed her orders.

6 walked over to the beaten man and stood over him, she looked shocked when she saw what had been done to him. As she kneeled down next to him she began to cry as she wiped the blood off his face. 6 gently lifted his head and placed it on her lap and began to stroke his hair.

"I'm sorry for what we've done to you," she whispered quietly, "I promise that I won't let them hurt our baby."

….

Bojay walked quietly towards Orion's main briefing room. A 5 and a 3 led the way. He expected that one day he wouldn't come back from one of these meetings, that he would vanish the same way the Colonel did. As he walked into the room the same faces met him as usual.

"Captain please sit down." A 3 that was already in the room said.

Bojay sat down facing the 5 skin jobs.

"So how's morale?" 3 asked.

"Is that a joke?" Bojay replied, "How do you think it is. Our sworn enemy has control of our ship and our fleet, our friends are disappearing and we have no clue what you want with us."

"Well that's about to change today," a 2 said, "We're on our way to a planet where all the humans in your fleet will be able to live the rest of your lives."

"As your prisoners." Bojay replied.

"With the hope that one day we will be able to live along side each other as friends." 3 said.

Bojay let out a laugh, "I wouldn't hold your breath on that one."

"Despite that in three more jumps you will be at your new home. So you have four days to talk to your crew, to get them used to the fact that their war is over." 3 said.

"What about Commander Garrett, Colonel Rae, Major Hunter and Carrie Spence amongst others, what happens to them?" Bojay asked.

"As soon as everyone is down on the planet they will be returned to you, you have our word." 2 said.

"Are they all still in one piece?" Bojay asked.

"They may be a little broken but nothing that won't fix." 5 said with a smile.

"In the meantime I want you to talk to the battle group. Tell them what's coming, tell them that any resistance will come with the strongest possible repercussions and we want you to do that now." 3 said.

Bojay turned and saw the 5 holding a handset.

"And if I refuse?" Bojay said.

"Then your ECO, Lieutenant Thirren will find out what it's like to take a space walk without her suit, it's your choice." 2 replied.

Bojay took a deep breath and stood up and took the handset.

"The channel is already open." 2 said.

"All military personnel this is Captain Johnson. I have been asked to inform you of what is going to happen in four days time. The Cylons are taking us to a planet where we are to live. They have told me to tell you that any resistance will be met with deadly force. Once we are on the planet the Commander, XO and CAG along with everyone else who has been taken from us will be returned. I advise you all to heed their warning and I would ask you all personally not to do anything that could put your lives in danger. We will be fine." Bojay hung up the handset when he finished speaking.

"Satisfied?" he said.

"Very," 3 said, "We will be requesting your presence on the CIC for the final jump, taking the final leap together."

"I'll count the seconds." Bojay replied sarcastically.

….

Mike Campbell sat alone in the weapons locker that held the EMP warheads. He had computers running pointless programs that he informed the Cylons would eventually crack Commander Garrett's code. Of course that would never happen but if the Cylons took a closer look at his work they would never be able to tell he was lying to them. The plan he had hatched with Sergeant Vannick and Bojay was nearly ready to be implemented and after what he had just heard from Bojay it wasn't a second soon enough. The Cylons had been gradually putting more and more pressure on him to crack the code. They had never asked if he knew Garrett's code, if he had one of his own or if he could just switch them back on. All of those things he either knew or could do but they had never asked him not that he would have told them if they did. All they had said to him was they wanted him to crack the code. He knew that even though he was alone he was being watched, there were cameras all over the room. Clearly the Cylons had no idea what he had been up to these last couple of months, if they had he was sure he would be dead by now. He looked up as he heard the door open. He smiled when he saw Vannick walk in carrying a tray of food and drink.

"Good afternoon sergeant." Mike said.

"After noon," Vannick replied, "Everything okay?"

Mike knew what Vannick meant by that, it wasn't just a question asking about his well being, "Yes sergeant, couldn't be better." Mike replied with a smile.

"Good, you need anything you let me know."

"That won't be necessary I have everything I could need." Mike replied.

As Vannick left the room he knew that everything was ready and in place, soon the Cylons weren't going to know what hit them.

….

Dr Gerrard sat in his office on the Medstar. He felt helpless, when he saw those Cylons drag Carrie back into his life he felt all the guilt for what he had unwittingly done to her come back and hit him harder than before. He knew that she was here as punishment for what she had done. He had tried to fight the number 4 Cylon who had taken over his area, telling him that she shouldn't be here but it had been like talking to a brick wall. He had managed to get some time alone with Carrie and had apologised for everything that had happened to her past and present and that he was doing everything he could to get her out. She seemed to understand him, she had even said she had forgiven him but still he felt the guilt for what he had done. As 4 walked into his office he wanted to take something sharp and stab the Cylon to death but he knew if he did that he would be a dead man and he had to stay alive to help Carrie.

"Good afternoon doctor." 4 said.

Gerrard grunted a response.

"I take it you heard Captain Johnson's broadcast?" 4 asked.

"Yes I did."

"Good, Miss Spence will be rejoining her brother and her friends."

"Thank the gods." Gerrard said to himself.

"It is hoped that she has learned her lesson from what she has done." 4 said, "I'll be taking her back to Orion this afternoon. Once she's gone I'll be leaving this section back in your capable hands."

Gerrard didn't reply, he took another sip from his coffee.

4 turned and walked out of the office and walked towards where he had locked Carrie. He looked through the small window and saw Carrie sitting on the bed in the room looking very drugged. He unlocked the door and walked inside.

"Hello Carrie do you know who I am?" 4 asked.

Carrie looked up, even through the drugged daze she recognised the Cylon who stood in front of her. All she could manage to do was nod her head.

"Do you remember why you're here?" he asked.

"I killed a 5." She replied.

"Well it's been decided that you're going back to Orion this afternoon."

"What do you want from me?" She asked.

"Nothing, you've already given us everything we need." 4 replied with a sinister smile.

….

While talking to Adam Grayson, despite herself Commander Garrett believed what he was saying.

"So do you know how they're going to achieve their endgame?" Garrett asked.

"Not entirely," Adam replied, "As I mentioned before they're starting to shut me out of conversations. I know something is going on. The meetings we used to have with all of us together stopped a short time ago. Mr Caprica and Miss Tauron are giving their orders individually. I know there are operatives all across the fleet in key positions."

"Are there any on Orion?" Garrett asked, this was something she had never thought of before.

"Yes."

That single word hit her hard, "Do you know who?"

"I wish I could tell you that I did. I know they're all over and a new operative was brought into play recently. I have suspicions that one of your higher ranking officers is one of them."

"As if human Cylons weren't bad enough now I don't know who I can and can't trust on my own staff."

"I do not believe its Major Hunter."

Neither did Garrett but she had to ask, "What makes you say that."

"The recent events on the Mussa Sala."

"But I thought that was just one mans need for revenge."

"It's true that a hands off has been issued on him but not because he's one of us."

"Why then?"

Grayson paused, "I'm not sure you want to know."

"I have too." Garrett replied.

"Because Mr Caprica's real name is Galen Hunter, he's the Major's father."

"What? But Archangel said he died on Caprica?"

"Because that is what he believes. He doesn't know the kind of man his father really is. He may have been a titan of industry, a face that the Colonies liked and trusted before the war but in truth he is a ruthless man."

"This is going to destroy him." Garrett said.

"Then why tell him?"

"Because it's his father."

"A fact that won't stay hidden forever I'm sure but what do you think he will do if he finds out? He'll tear this fleet apart looking for him and we both know there is nothing any of us can do to stop him. Until he needs to know I strongly recommend you don't tell him."

….

Wedge was fuelled with an anger he was finding very hard to control. He was so used to being able to control his surroundings and do things on his terms. Even in a fight to the death while sat in his Viper, he controlled the outcome. He never let a raider get the better of him, in life he had never let anyone or anything get the better of him. The only thing he knew how to do to try and vent some of this anger was to beat the hell out of the punch bags in Orion's gym. He would give anything to be able to get Carrie. In the short time they had been together his feelings for her had grown quickly and now he couldn't help her. He pummelled the bag in a flurry of blows that would have killed any man that would have taken them and then stopped to catch his breath.

"You okay?" Jawbreaker asked from the punch bag next to him.

"I'd be better if I could switch this bag for a skin job." Wedge replied.

"You and me both. I'd ask you if you wanted to spar but I don't think even I could take to many punches like that."

"I'm sorry buddy. Sorry I've been like this but I just can't shake it."

"You don't have to explain yourself to me. How long have we known each other now? 7 years so you don't need to explain to me."

"7 years frak me. When we were on Columbia if you'd told me this is where we'd be now I'd have laughed."

"Tell me about it. But I think I've just found a way to make you smile again." Jawbreaker replied pointing to the door behind Wedge.

Wedge turned to see Carrie standing there smiling. Wedge ran up to her and threw his arms around her before kissing her.

"My gods what happened?" Wedge asked.

"They let me go," Carrie replied groggily, "They just let me go."

….

Archangel was startled back into consciousness by the sound of gunfire. As his eyes adjusted to the light he saw the centurion that guarded him was shooting at an as yet unseen enemy. As the metal monster hit the ground under a volley of gunfire Archangel forced himself to his feet. As he stumbled to the door Vannick, Grace and a team of marines met him.

"Thank the gods." Vannick said.

Grace hugged Archangel and kissed him.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Archangel nodded his head, "Good to see you guys."

"Come on there will be more on the way." Vannick said handing Archangel a handgun.

Archangel managed to keep up with the others. As they neared the hanger bay Archangel caught sight of a number 5, he raised his gun and shot the cylon between the eyes. Outside the hanger there were downed centurions and skin jobs everywhere.

"Looks like you guys have been busy." Archangel said with a smile.

As they walked into the hanger bay Bojay and Bria were waiting for them with a raptor.

"What the frak kept you?" Bojay asked with a smile.

"Got to keep you flyboys on your toes." Vannick replied as they all got into the back.

As the raptor took off it didn't take long to get into open space. Archangel saw Orion and the four Gunstars in a fierce fight with the base ships. Wreckage of countless Cylon ships was scattered as far as the eye could see. Vipers were in dogfights with raiders. Archangel moved into the back of the raptor. He caught a glimpse of the dradis console, it was completely clear of contacts.

"What the?" Archangel said.

"What? What's wrong?" Grace asked.

"Something is wrong with dradis." He replied.

"Nothings wrong with dradis." Bria replied looking at the blank screen.

"This isn't going to work!" Archangel shouted, "There's nothing you can do to break me."

"Mark what's wrong?" Grace asked.

"Nothing." Archangel replied smiling. He took hold of the sidearm he had been given and one by one shot everyone in the raptor with him.

Archangel lay laughing as Cylon probes and drugs once again failed to break him.

"GOD DAM IT." 1 yelled knocking over a tray of instruments in a fit of rage, "He's just a fraking human, they're weak, and they're nothing. WHY CAN'T WE BREAK HIM?"

The 4 standing next to Archangel looked up, "Honestly I don't know. Everything we've done should have been enough, for fraks sake he can even tell when we send in a 6 now that it's not Grace, it shouldn't be possible."

"And yet here we are after four months," 1 replied, "Is the contingency plan in place?"

"Yes, when they're on New Caprica we can bring it into play and then we win regardless." 3 said.

….

Karl Michaels sat in the living room of his cabin. The warmth of the log fire next to him felt good. He loved living in the polar dome of the Starburst, it threw up daily challenges. The biggest challenge he had faced so far was sat opposite him. The number 5 Cylon had been making regular trips to his home to search for Grace. Despite the fact they never found her and never would they kept coming back.

"I don't see the appeal of this weather." 5 said.

Michaels smiled, "It's my favourite of all. Makes you realise you're alive when you're out conditions that extreme."

"I wonder why they would decide to put something this, cold on a ship that holds the standard of luxury that this one does?"

"I can't answer that question. If you were human you might understand." Michaels replied.

5 laughed, "I've come to enjoy our little chats. Who would have thought? It almost makes me hope that we don't find her so I can keep coming back."

"I thought you were taking us to a planet to live on. What would be the point in coming back? No one will be here."

"That's very true. You know what we're going to do if we haven't found her by then?"

"Enlighten me." Michaels replied.

"Once everyone is off this ship and every other ship we're going to destroy them all. One at a time and just wait for Grace to download."

"What makes you think she'll be on one of the ships when we all leave? There are nearly 140,000 people in this fleet, it would be easy to sneak her away. After all I know you know that's what I'm best at."

"That's true. What if we leave you on the Starburst when we destroy it?" 5 replied with a smile.

"Then you leave me here. I'm not afraid to die, never have been never will be."

"Are you a religious man Karl?" 5 asked.

"Not especially. My mother tried to get me to go to church when I was a child but I could never see the point of it. She gave up in the end, let me do what I wanted to do."

"So you don't believe in any afterlife and yet you're not bothered about going to your death?" 5 asked.

"There either is an afterlife or there isn't," Michaels replied, "My belief or lack of isn't going to change that in any way. The threat of death isn't going to make me confess any sins or tell you where Grace is or isn't, it's hollow as far as I'm concerned."

"Fair enough." 5 replied, "I like you Karl, I've enjoyed our time together."

An 8 and 2 came through, "Nothing." 8 said, "Once again there's no one living here but him."

"I could have saved you the trouble of searching." Michaels replied.

"I'm sure you could." 5 replied, "Until next time."

"You know where the door is." Michaels replied.

….

Commander Garrett sat on the bed in the small room she had been calling home for the last four months. Her conversations with Adam Grayson over the past couple of days had been illuminating to say the least. She was still cautious of the things he told her and continued to say but despite herself she couldn't help but believe him. He also seemed genuinely scared for his daughter. He hadn't seen her in months and it would appear that the NCO were using her as a bargaining chip for his continued cooperation. She wished she could sleep, she knew that's what Adam was doing right now. Sleep was getting harder and harder to come by. She had finished reading yet another book less than an hour ago and had tried to force sleep after that but it still wouldn't come. She found herself day dreaming of her own bed in her own quarters, she was sure if she could get there she would be able to fall asleep without a problem. She was startled out of her daydream by the door opening. A number 3 Cylon stood in the doorway with two centurions standing behind her.

"Good morning Vanessa, sleep well?" 3 asked.

"What do you want?" Garrett replied.

"Today's the big day Commander, today's the day you reach your new home. We're taking you back to Orion before the final jump. You'd better get your jacket, you wouldn't want to set a bad example in front of your crew now would you?"

Garrett picked up her uniform jacket and followed the skin job out of the room. She had so much more to say to Adam Grayson, she just prayed she had said enough.

….

"Humans of the fleet this is the last of our broadcasts you will see in your current homes. Human and Cylon are about to take the next leap in peace, in living together, in striving to find a common bond that can bring us together. We are about to give you the one thing you have been looking for since we drove you from the Colonies, a new planet to call your own. A new planet where human and Cylon alike will live together and strive to make a society where we can be prosperous, where we can bring new life into a world free of the violence we bring on each other. By the end of the day you will all once again know the feeling of soil under your feet and the sun against your skin. It will be hard at first but we the Cylons know that we can make this work. As a show of good faith when we reach the planet we will release all prisoners that we have taken over the last four months, in return we expect peace. Anyone who is caught in the act of violence or planning on committing this act will be dealt with as strongly as possible. We are the Cylons and we give to you your salvation."

Bojay watched with the other pilots in their quarters. He knew they were nearly there but he thought he would have a little longer to prepare. It was now or never, it would either work or it wouldn't, they were about to find out.

"We need to do something." Cyanide said from behind Bojay.

"You need to trust me," Bojay replied, "Do nothing."

"And just go down to that planet with our asses in our hands?" Cyanide replied.

"If you never do anything I ever ask again just do this one thing for me," Bojay said, "Trust me."

As he finished speaking the door to their quarters opened and a 2 walked in.

"Captain Johnson I'd like you to come with me to the CIC please."

Bojay winked at Bria as he followed the skin job.

As Bojay walked onto the CIC he saw a bruised and beaten Colonel Rae propped up by the dradis console and Lieutenant Taylor who stood next to her. There were centurions and skin jobs all over the room as well as other crewmen and women.

"Captain." Colonel Rae said.

"Good to see you Colonel." Bojay replied.

Moments later Commander Garrett appeared led by a number 3. Bojay was relived to see she was in one piece.

"What a great day this is," 3 said, "The salvation you've been looking for is now at your finger tips."

"That's a matter of opinion." Garrett replied.

"You'll see commander. Soon not only will the people you've been fighting to save have a home but they will be reunited with some of their other surviving brothers and sisters." 3 said.

"What?" Garrett asked.

"The planet we're taking you too Galactica's fleet is already there."

Everyone was lost for words.

"They've called the planet New Caprica and they've been living in peace with us for months now." 3 said.

"I don't believe you." Garrett replied.

"Well whether you believe me or not you're about to find out. Commander Garrett please order the jump to New Caprica."

"No." Garrett replied.

"Commander please there is no need for this, ORDER THE JUMP." 3 replied.

"No." Garrett said standing firm.

"Fair enough." 3 replied.

She took out a small handgun and pointed it at the commander.

"ORDER THE FRAKING JUMP." 3 yelled.

"No. I'm not afraid to die." Garrett replied.

3 turned the weapon towards Lieutenant Taylor and shot her between the eyes.

"You mother fraker." Bojay said.

"Now commander if you don't order the jump your XO is next, then Captain Johnson, then I will contact the base ship Major Hunter is on and tell them to throw him out of an airlock. ORDER THE JUMP."

"Don't do it." Rae said.

"You really do have a death wish Colonel."

Rae didn't reply.

"Fair enough." 3 said turning the gun towards the XO.

"WAIT." Bojay shouted.

"Bojay what are you doing?" Garrett asked.

"I'll do it," he said, "Do you guarantee Major Hunter and everyone else will be returned to us?"

"Yes Captain. If you order the jump you have my word."

"Bojay I order you to stand down." Garrett said.

"I'm sorry Commander, I can't stand by and watch more of my friends die." He said.

A 4 handed him one of the handsets on the dradis console. He took it despite the disapproving and disappointed looks from his shipmates. He took a deep breath before he spoke.

"This is Bojay," he said, "Do it now."

Everyone looked confused as Bojay smiled and set down the handset.

"Match point." He said.

Before 3 could even reply she and the other skin jobs began to scream in pain before they and the centurions dropped to the floor. He picked up the handset and spoke again.

"Ships of the fleet this is Captain Johnson of the Battlestar Orion a virus has been transmitted to all the Cylons on your ships disabling them. We have approximately one hour to get all the skin jobs and centurions into airlocks and blasted out into space before they power up again. You have all been sent a new set of jump coordinates as soon as you are ready check in with Orion and make the jump."

"What did you do?" Garrett asked with a smile.

"It's a long story that we can talk about later right now we have work to do. Commander, Orion is yours."

….

Wedge ran as fast as he could carrying Carrie in his arms. Since the skin jobs had started to scream in pain so had she, the difference was she hadn't stopped. As he reached sickbay he saw Dr Hammond was back in her office, marines were dragging away the skin job they had called 4.

"Doc I need your help." Wedge shouted as he laid a screaming Carrie onto a bed.

"What happened?" Hammond asked.

"When the skin jobs started screaming so did Carrie the difference is when they dropped she didn't, just carried on screaming. She grabbed her head, she managed to tell me that's where the pain was coming from. Doc you have to help her." Wedge pleaded.

Dr Hammond injected Carrie with a sedative, which immediately calmed her down.

"I'll give her a brain scan and see what's going on in there. Do you have somewhere you need to be?"

Wedge shook his head, "I'm not going anywhere."

….

As medics took Lt Taylor's body away everyone else was getting back to their old posts.

"What do we do about those Baseships?" Rae asked.

"Right now nothing," Garrett looked up at the count down clock above them, "We still have 54 minutes, and we need to give Archangel enough time to get off whichever ship he's on."

"What about sending people over to get him?" Rae asked.

"There are thirty eight Baseships and one of their resurrection ships out there we have no idea which one he's on. We wait he'll find us."

"Are you okay Vanessa?" Rae asked.

Garrett nodded her head, "I'm good, you?"

Rae smiled and nodded, "I am now. What do we do about this planet?"

"We leave it for now." Garrett replied.

….

As Archangel came too he noticed the lights in his "room" were flickering. When he got his bearings he noticed that the centurion who guarded him was on the ground. He groggily got to his feet and saw a 6 lying next to where he had been with no signs of life. He couldn't help but wonder if this was another of their tricks, they had tried everything to break him, this was probably just another trick. It felt different this time. Usually he could feel the drugs, even if it was just a faint haze, he could always feel them. He slowly and shakily got to the open door way. Outside it was the same, lights flickering and Cylons, both the human and metal types scattered on the ground. As Archangel took a step into the corridor he caught sight of a small group of people who appeared in front of him. They can't be people, he thought to himself, frak, he'd fallen straight into their trap.

"Hello." He heard one of the voices say.

It didn't belong to any of the Cylons he had met so far, he would never forget any of their voices.

"Are you okay?" the man's voice asked.

Archangel hesitated.

"Are you okay?" the man asked again.

Archangel nodded, "Who are you?" he asked his voice croaky.

"My name is Lieutenant James Potter I was from the Battlestar Columbia, I've been held prisoner since the attack, we all have."

As Archangel staggered towards the people he could see most of the small group seemed to be dressed in civilian clothes, all except for Potter.

"My gods you're Archangel." He said.

"We have to get out of here," Archangel said, "Get to the hanger bay. Orion will be waiting for us."

"Orion?" Potter asked.

"It's a long story." Archangel replied.

….

Michaels stood looking at the Cylons unconscious on the floor in front of him. He had already broken the necks of the other two who were in his home. He looked down at this number 5 and felt no emotions towards him at all. He kneeled down next to him and took a deep breath.

"No doubt I'll see you again one day." Michaels said before snapping 5's neck.

He got back to his feet and headed towards the back of the cabin. He moved the cupboards against the back wall to reveal a door in the floor. He opened it and walked down the steps that led him under the house. He had made this little hideaway out of habit. At the time he didn't even know why he was making it, he never thought he would need it but that hadn't stopped him. Below the house was a small comfortable living quarters where he had been hiding Grace for months. Supplies of food and water that would last a long time, books to keep her entertained as well as other small comforts. He saw Grace lying on the bed, not moving and with no signs of life just as the other skin jobs had been.

"Grace." He said, "Grace can you hear me?"

There was no reply. He hoped she was still alive.

….

Wedge stood watching as Dr Hammond finished off Carrie's brain scan. He had never been this terrified in his life. Even when the Cylons had attacked and everyone he knew and loved was being murdered, he still didn't feel quite as scared and as lost as he did in this moment.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Wedge asked as Hammond walked through.

"There is something at the base of her brain. I can't tell what but it's only recently been put there. I'm guessing the Cylons must have done it while she was on the Medstar. It must be what's causing her all the pain."

"Can you remove it?" Wedge asked.

"I hope so." Hammond replied.

"Please help her." Wedge begged.

"I'll do everything I can." She replied.

….

The countdown clock on the CIC read 6 minutes remaining. The tension was high.

"All the other ships are away Commander and all the ships weapons are being reloaded. Ship to ship missiles are ready, the main magazines are only a quarter full." Rae said.

"How long till they're full?" Garrett replied.

"Gun captains report it will be at least another three hours till everything is ready." Rae responded.

"Dradis contact." A voice called out.

Garrett looked up and saw the signal of a colonial raptor appear from one of the base ships.

"Commander I have Major Hunter on the horn, he wants to speak with you." Ensign Phillips said from the COM station.

Garrett smiled as she picked up her hand set.

"Orion actual go ahead." She said.

"Orion actual this is Archangel." came the response. Archangel's voice was clearly still groggy and she could tell he was in pain.

"It's good to hear your voice Major." She replied.

"Likewise," he said, "I don't know what you did but thank you."

"You're very welcome but it's Bojay you need to thank. Are you okay?"

"We're going to need medics on the hanger bay. I need them and the others will need checking over."

"Others?" Garrett replied.

"Yes ma'am there were other prisoners as well."

"They'll be waiting for you. The starboard hanger bay is all yours."

"See you soon." He replied.

Garrett put the handset down and smiled to herself.

"Colonel Rae." She said.

"Yes Commander."

"Have every Cylons ship targeted with a spread of ship to ship missiles and blow them out of the fraking sky, then jump us to the rest of the fleet." Garrett ordered.

"Yes ma'am." Rae replied with a smile, which due to her injuries caused her pain but it was worth it.

….

Archangel looked at the people who were crammed into the back of the raptor with him. They were a mixture of sexes and ages but they all had one thing in common, they all looked terrified. Normally he would have tried to reassure them but he didn't have it in him. He still expected to see something that would give this away as a dream or hallucination but there was nothing. Either this was for real or they had finally broken him. As Lieutenant Potter brought the raptor to a stop on Orion's hanger deck he looked out through the small window on the raptors door. The deck crew were getting back to their work and a small crowd had begun to gather by the raptor. He saw Skeeter standing at the front smiling as the commander appeared through the crowd next to him. Archangel stood up as the door began to open. He knew he looked battered and bruised and he could tell that people were trying to hide their expressions from him. He saluted the commander who saluted back.

"Permission to come aboard." Archangel said.

"Permission granted." Garrett replied.

As Archangel put one foot outside the raptor Skeeter and the commander moved forward as quickly as they could as they watched Archangel pass out and then slide down the side of the raptor and onto the hanger deck.

"MEDIC." Skeeter shouted as he reached his friend. Garrett checked for a pulse and was relieved to find one straight away.

….

When Archangel came too he was startled for a second to see Orion's sickbay. As he took in his surroundings he remembered what had happened. His body didn't feel as battered as it had done before, he assumed that was due to the painkillers he had probably been given. He saw Skeeter sitting next to him smiling.

"Welcome back." Skeeter said.

"What the frak happened?" Archangel replied.

"I'm not really sure, all I know is the Cylons are gone. Bojay and Mike did something that just switched them all off."

"How long was I gone for?"

"Four months." Skeeter replied.

"That long?" Archangel said, "I completely lost track of all time while I was over there."

"Can I ask? what did they do to you?" Skeeter said.

"When they realised they couldn't beat information out of me they decided to try pumping me full of drugs. I didn't know what the frak was going on, but they never broke me, at least I don't think they did."

"That sounds about right." Skeeter replied.

"Where's Carrie?"

Skeeter hesitated.

"Skeeter where's my sister?"

"She's in surgery." Skeeter replied.

"What? Why? Is she okay?"

"The Cylons put something in her brain, the doc is removing it because it was causing her excruciating pain."

"Will she be okay?"

Skeeter nodded his head, "Of course she will be."

They both looked up when Grace walked in, she smiled when she saw Archangel and Skeeter.

"Looks like there's someone here to see you." Skeeter said, "I'll leave you two alone."

Grace kissed him before she sat down.

"What did they do to you?" she said.

"I'm okay," Archangel replied, "Honestly I'm okay. Are you?"

Grace nodded her head, "I'm fine, Michaels kept me hidden."

"I knew I could count on him." Archangel replied.

….

Commander Garrett was pleased to be back on her own ship in her own quarters. As soon as she had spoken to everyone who needed to see her she intended to finally get some sleep. The president, Colonel Rae, Bojay and Mike sat with her.

"So what exactly did you do?" Milo asked.

"I remembered Grace saying that the Cylons were all linked by a signal or carrier wave, whatever you want to call it. So while I was pretending to hack the codes for the EMPs I decided to try and see if I could find that signal. Once I managed to find it I realised that it linked them all, the ships, the skin jobs, the centurions all of them. So I wrote an EMP reboot virus I suppose you'd call it, then when Captain Johnson gave me the signal I triggered it."

"Did you know it would work?" Rae asked.

"I couldn't test it properly, I couldn't risk the Cylons finding out what I was doing, so I tested it on a clock radio." Mike said.

"A clock radio?" Garrett asked surprised.

"Yes Commander, then it was just a case of doing the math and readjusting the strength of the "virus" for the size and amount of the targets."

"I'm glad you're on our side." Garrett said with a laugh.

"The two of you saved our fleet." Milo said.

"It wasn't just us, Lieutenant Thirren and Sergeant Vannick were involved as well." Bojay replied.

"Never the less you saved our fleet and I intend to give you all a medal for what you did." Milo said.

"Thank you sir." Bojay replied.

"Thank you for explaining it to us," Garrett said, "I'm sure you both have a lot to do."

"Yes ma'am." Bojay replied getting up, "I just wanted to say it's good to see you all again."

"It's good to be seen." Milo replied.

When Bojay and Mike had both left there was still plenty more to discuss.

"So what do we do about this planet?" Milo asked, "Do we forget about it or do we go take a look?"

"I want to take Orion and the Gunstars to take a look and if there are any Cylons there I want to take them all down." Garrett replied.

"That's understandable," Milo replied, "What about what they said about Galactica and her fleet?"

"I don't believe a word of it," Garrett said, "And if they are there it's not through choice. There is no way Adama would just coexist with the Cylons. He'd kill them all or die trying before that happened."

"I tend to agree." Milo said.

"Do you know Adama?" Garrett asked.

"Only through reputation." Milo replied.

"I've been fortunate enough to meet him a couple of times down the years and trust me the reputation is justified. There's no way he would hold hands with the toasters." Garrett said.

"So when do you want to go and check the planet?" Milo asked.

Garrett looked up and took a deep breath before she spoke, "As soon as Orion and the Gunstars are ready."

"If you're sure that's the best thing to do." Milo replied.

"I'm going to hit them hard, so hard that they'll think twice before they ever come near us again." Garrett replied.

….

Four hours later everyone was in position on Orion's CIC. The ships weapons were fully loaded and its vipers were in the tube ready for the other side of the jump.

Garrett walked onto the CIC. Colonel Rae already stood by the dradis console. She was looking better than she did a few hours earlier. A medic had taken a look at her and cleaned her up.

"Commander." Rae said.

"Colonel, you feeling up to this?" Garrett replied.

"Oh yes." Rae replied with a smile.

"Ensign Phillips please put me through to the ship and the Gunstars." Garrett said.

"Channel is open." Phillips replied.

"All hands this is the Commander," Garrett said, "We are about to head to the planet the Cylons called New Caprica. We are going to make them pay for everything they have put us through for the last four months. For all of our people they have hurt, for all our people they have killed. We are going to use Orion for the purpose it was made for, we are going to destroy every last of those metal mother frakers who are at that planet. We will not stop, we will show no mercy until we have destroyed them all. Stand by your shipmates and we will all come back. Lets make them sorry they ever came for us." Garrett put the handset down and looked around the CIC.

"For Lieutenant Georgia Taylor." Colonel Rae said.

"FOR LIETUTENANT TAYLOR." The voices of the CIC crew roared in reply.

Garrett smiled, "Start the jump."

"All hands prepare to jump in 5…4…3…2…1 jump." Ensign Phillips said.

Orion and three of the Gunstars jumped away from the fleet.

"Jump complete," Ensign Phillips said, "Dradis is full of a lot of debris we also appear to be in a nebula that's fraking up the signal," he paused for a moment, "I'm picking up 3 Baseships at carrum 2-12."

"Launch the vipers and begin flack barrage." Rae ordered.

"Load EMPs and launch as soon as they're ready." Garrett said.

Wedge was the first viper to launch followed by everyone else. He could see the inbound raiders but immediately had to dodge through wreckage.

"Orion this is Wedge, I need to speak to actual."

Moments later the Commander's voice filled his ears.

"Wedge this is Orion actual."

"Commander this wreckage, it's from Pegasus." Wedge replied.

"Are you sure?" Garrett asked.

"Yes ma'am I've just had to dodge what's left of their starboard flight pod. Looks like there has been one hell of a battle here." Wedge replied.

"Thank you for the info. Good hunting."

As the Commander's voice rang off Wedge engaged the first raider that came towards him.

"Okay guys hold it together and stick together." Wedge ordered.

As the vipers engaged the swarming raiders EMP warheads streaked through the sky with a blue haze that followed them like a tail through space. One base ship was hit head on and immediately powered down. The other two enemy ships backed off.

"Base ships are backing away out of our firing range but they're not jumping away." Phillips said.

"Is Mike Campbell still aboard?" Garrett asked.

"Yes I think he is." Rae replied.

"Get him on the horn." Garrett replied.

Moments later Mike's nervous voice appeared on the other end of the line.

"How can I help you Commander?" he asked.

"What you did to disable all the Cylons earlier, will it work again?" Garrett asked.

"Honestly I don't know."

"Can you try it?"

"Yes ma'am I'll get straight on it." Mike replied.

All Mike's equipment was still set up in the EMP room. He ignored the people around him as they moved the weapons he had created to the missile rooms. He had no idea if it would work a second time. As he pressed the button he held his breath and waited. Ear splitting feedback hit him as the signal was rejected and sent back to him. As he had feared the Cylons had changed the frequency of the signal that linked them all together. He ran to the handset on the wall behind him.

"CIC." He said into the phone. Moments later Ensign Phillips answered, "It's Mike Campbell I need to speak to the Commander." He blurted.

"It didn't work?" The Commander said.

"No it didn't, they've changed their frequencies." Mike replied.

"Can you find it?" Garrett asked.

"Not in time. It took me over a month to find it last time."

"Thank you for trying." The Commander replied before the line went dead.

He sighed to himself, he would have to find a new way to help his fellow survivors.

"Looks like we have to do this the old fashion way." Garrett said as she put the handset down.

"One of the Baseships is directing all its fire on the Gunstars, they're taking heavy damage." Phillips shouted.

"Tell the Gunstars to jump back to the fleet," Garrett said, "We can't afford to loose them. Get us closer to those two Baseships. The second they're in range hit them with a full spread of torpedoes then hit them with everything we have."

As Wedge destroyed his 6th raider in this fight he saw the Gunstars jumping away and Orion moving closer to the two remaining base ships. As he turned into another raider it turned tail and sped back to its base ship as did all the others.

"Okay kids the raiders are bugging out, do not chase them back to the base ship, follow my lead and we'll make a line and wait for more orders." Wedge said turning his plane back in Orion's direction. Moments later the 450 strong Viper squadrons of the Battlestar Orion formed a formidable line flanked by its armed raptor squadrons.

"Wedge this is Bojay good shooting out there." Bojay said over the horn.

"You too," Wedge replied.

They all watched as the two remaining base ships jumped away.

"Yeah that's right run you mother frakers." Jawbreaker said over the COM.

Wedge laughed to himself. He couldn't agree more with his best friend but part of him had wanted them to stay longer, he had an urge to junk more toasters.

….

Archangel sat next to his sister, holding her hand as she lay unconscious in her bed. He felt helpless, his friends had been out fighting and he hadn't been by their side and his sister lay in this state and there was nothing he could do for her.

Dr Hammond and Grace walked over to them.

"How is she?" Archangel asked.

"She's going to be okay," Hammond replied, "I removed the chip they had implanted. It had a small explosive device attached to it."

"It must have been on the same frequency as the Cylons so they could remotely trigger it. When Mike sent his EMP virus to us it must have triggered a feedback loop on the chip which caused Carrie the pain she was in." Grace said.

"Why would they do that to her? I can understand to me or the Commander or even the President but why to her?"

"I wondered the same thing, but watching the people who have been into see her I realised why." Grace said.

"Why?" Archangel replied.

"If they had got us to the planet what is one of the first thing you would have done?" Grace asked.

"Started to fight back." Archangel replied.

"Exactly," Grace said, "That's what I realised when I saw the Commander, the President, you, Wedge, Skeeter and others come to see how she was. She is the only person to have daily access to all of the people who would have formed a resistance against them. All they would have needed to do was wait till you were all in the same room and activate that bomb. What kind of a message would that have sent to the rest of the people? When their leaders, the leaders of their resistance were all dead. If they could be taken out, anyone could."

"That makes a lot of sense." Hammond replied.

"It's what I've done." Archangel said, "It's what I would do. But she's okay now? It's not caused any damage to her?"

"No. It appears the chip was only recently implanted into her and didn't have chance to have any organic matter attach to it. I'm keeping her sedated because of where it was. I want to give her brain time to recover."

"Okay," Archangel said, "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Hammond replied.

….

Bojay and Hydra took their Raptors down to the surface of the planet, it didn't take them long to find the city their brothers and sisters had built. There were plooms of smoke from recent explosions still billowing into the sky.

"Orion this is Bojay."

"Bojay this is Orion actual go ahead."

"They weren't lying there have been people here," Bojay replied, "There appears to be the beginnings of a city here. It looks like there was a fight down here as well as up there. Whatever happened Galactica's people fought back hard."

"Are there any signs of life?" Garrett asked.

"Not that I can see but we've only done a fly over. I request permission to land and have a look around."

"Permission granted," Garrett replied, "Take a radio with you and leave a channel open. I'm sending more people down to the surface."

"Yes ma'am, I'll let you know if we find anything." Bojay replied, "Hydra follow me down."

"No problem." Hydra replied.

Both raptors touched down on the edge of the city. As Bojay got out of the cockpit Bria picked up a radio. They met Hydra and her ECO outside.

"Okay keep your eyes open there could be left over toasters down here, everyone draw your side arms." Bojay said.

As they walked through the street of New Caprica they saw the extent of the fight that had taken place. Dead humans and Cylons were everywhere. It looked as though whatever life the humans had tried to build here had been halted by the machines. All four pilots were startled as a young boy appeared from one of the tents in front of them. Bojay holstered his weapon and smiled at the kid.

"Hey there, are you okay?" he asked with one of his kind smiles.

"Can you help my Dad?" the boy asked.

"Sure, can you take us to him." Bojay replied.

The boy nodded and ran back into the tent.

"Bria come with me, Hydra keep an eye out here I don't want any surprises." Bojay replied.

She nodded her head.

As Bojay and Bria entered the tent they saw the boy kneeling next to his father shaking him. Bojay knew by looking at him that his father was dead.

"Bria see what you can do," Bojay said, "Hey come with me while Bria tries to help your dad."

The boy took Bojay's hand and took him outside. Bojay shook his head and Hydra understood.

"Can you guys go help Bria?" Bojay asked.

"Yeah sure." Hydra replied.

"What's your name?" Bojay asked.

"Jimmy." The boy replied.

"No way, that's my name too." Bojay replied.

"Really?" the child asked.

Bojay nodded his head and smiled, "Jimmy Johnson. So Jimmy is your mother around?"

The boy nodded his head, "She was in the town square when the explosions happened. I don't know if she's with the others."

"Others? Where are the others?" Bojay asked.

"I watched them run into the hanger building over there," the boy said pointing, "But my dad was hurt so I stayed with him."

Bria walked out.

"Is my dad okay?"

Bria kneeled down next to the boy, "I did everything I could to help him but he was hurt to badly, I'm sorry."

The boy just looked at her silently and then at Bojay.

"Thank you for trying to help him." Jimmy said before starting to cry.

"I'm so sorry buddy. Bria here is going to take you to our Raptor while I go and see if I can find your mother."

The boy nodded his head through the tears before Bria picked him up and walked back to the Raptor. Hydra and Tin Can her ECO stood with him.

"He said he saw survivors heading to the hanger over there." Bojay said.

As he began to walk away he unholstered his weapon again. The three pilots walked quietly through the streets. Bojay stopped when he saw someone on the ground, clearly injured trying to crawl into a tent. He ran over but stopped when he saw it was a Cylon, a number 4.

"Help me." The 4 pleaded holding out his arm.

Bojay looked down at the Cylon and took a deep breath before kneeling down next to the machine.

"Please help me." The 4 asked.

"I'll help you." Bojay replied.

"Thank you." The 4 said.

In a flash Bojay's hands were tightly gripping the Cylons throat.

"HELP YOU." He screamed, "HELP YOU AFTER WHAT YOU'VE DONE."

The Cylon tried to remove Bojay's grip but couldn't budge it. Hydra had never seen such rage in anyone's eyes before. Tin Can looked at her as if asking what should they do. Hydra put her hand on his arm to tell him nothing at all. She knew that Bojay needed this.

As the life drained away from the Cylon Bojay calmly stood up closed his eyes and took a deep breath. That actually had made him feel a little better. Without saying another word the three pilots began to walk again.

The hanger building was easy to spot from the others. The fuel pumping station that was next to it was rigged up to clearly fuel spacecraft. Bojay looked out from their hiding place. They had spotted two centurions trying to get into the building. Both of the metal monsters were slightly battle damaged, one of them had wires and bent metal where one of it's arms had been.

"You guys ready?" Bojay whispered.

Hydra and Tin Can nodded and held their guns tightly. Bojay was the first to open fire hitting the one armed Cylon in the head with four shots. It fell to the ground as the second machine turned and returned fire. Tin Can fired wildly hitting nothing but the wall to the Cylons right. He hadn't kneeled far enough behind his cover as one of the Cylons rounds hit it's mark and shot him between the eyes.

"Mother fraker." Hydra shouted as her ECO hit the deck next to her. She emptied the rest of her magazine, hitting the Centurion with every shot. As it fell she reloaded her weapon with a full magazine.

"Gods damn it Tin Can." She said as she wiped a tear from her eye. The two had become quite close since recently being paired up. He had been a good friend to her.

"You okay?" Bojay asked.

"I'm good but Tin Can is dead." Hydra replied.

"Gods damn it." Bojay shouted.

"Come on, let's make sure he didn't die for nothing, lets find these other survivors." Hydra replied wiping the tears from her eyes.

Both pilots walked towards the massive hanger. There didn't appear to be any more centurions around. Bojay tried the side door of the hanger but it was locked tight. He shot the lock out and then took a deep breath before opening the door. Inside there were people crammed as far as the eye could see. They looked terrified even though they saw the people coming in weren't Cylons.

"Frak me look at all these people." Hydra said.

"My name is Captain Johnson and I'm from the Battlestar Orion," he shouted at the top of his voice, "We're here to rescue you."

The people nearest to them went from being terrified to relieved in seconds. People started coming up to them shaking their hands and saying thank you.

"We found a child outside called Jimmy is his mother here?" Bojay yelled.

He wasn't sure how far his voice could be heard over the people talking but moments later a woman appeared crying with relief.

"Did you find my Jimmy?" she asked, "Is he and my husband okay?"

"Your son is fine but I'm sorry to tell you that your husband didn't make it." Bojay replied.

….

Commander Garrett and President Vents stood overlooking the makeshift city on New Caprica.

"From what I can tell from survivors I've talked too they settled here a while ago," Milo said, "Then the Cylons found them around the same time they found us. It appears these people didn't or couldn't get to their ships in time when the exodus happened."

"I just can't believe we missed Galactica by a matter of hours," Garrett replied, "We still have no idea which way they're going."

"We keep finding evidence of them everywhere we go, it's only a matter of time before we cross paths." Milo said.

"If we'd made it here and they'd got us on this planet and their hands on Orion it would have been game over." Garrett said.

"But they didn't, we should be grateful for that and we managed to rescue all these people."

"It does make me think though is it ever going to be safe to settle on a planet as long as the Cylons are out there. This could be us."

"We should focus on the now. We have our freedoms, we found these people, there are enough supplies on this planet to restock all our stores to maximum."

"A jewel in the mud." Garrett replied.

"Definitely." Milo replied.

"When I was on that ship for those months the person in the room next to me was Adam Grayson."

"What?" Milo replied.

"We got talking. It would appear that he isn't the man we thought he was, he's being used against his will under threat of his daughter's life."

"And you believe him?"

"At first I wasn't sure. We talked for days. He told me that one of my senior officers is an NCO agent but didn't know who."

"That is worrying."

"He also told me that Mr Caprica, the man who is in charge is Galen Hunter."

"The Tylium billionaire?"

"Amongst other things. He's also Archangel's father."

The surprise on the president's face couldn't be hidden.

"Does Archangel know?"

"No he doesn't and I'm inclined not to tell him until we have too."

"Doesn't he have a right to know?"

"Yes he does but think about it, if we tell him his father is in the fleet and is the one pulling all the strings behind the NCO what is he going to do?"

"He would tear the fleet apart looking for him." Milo replied.

"Exactly. We'll tell him just not until we have too. Grayson also said he was going to help us take the NCO down from the inside."

"I hope we can trust him."

"So do I." Garrett replied.

….

A 1 gasped for air as he finished downloading into a new body. This was his third download but he had never felt this disorientated before.

"What the frak happened?" 1 said.

"The humans." A 3 replied.

"Be more specific, there are a lot of them out there." 1 said rubbing the pink slime from his face.

"Orion's fleet, they hit us with some sort of virus, it powered down every Cylons everywhere." 2 said, "They managed to isolate the signal that links us all together and exploited it."

"So they got away?" 1 said wrapping towels around him and getting out of the tank.

"Yes, they also went to New Caprica and rescued the remaining humans the Galactica wasn't able to rescue." 3 said.

"Well we've well and truly been cluster fraked today. It's a small mercy this happened after Galactica escaped and Pegasus was destroyed or the damage could have been worse." 1 said.

"There's more," 2 said, "While we were offline some of the Baseships collided, some of them hit moons or planets they were too close too. As they were offline we had brothers and sisters that didn't download."

"How many did we loose?" 1 asked.

"Hundreds of thousands. We don't know exact numbers." 3 said.

"We can't take those kinds of risks again, get everyone together, we have to come up with a plan to wipe these humans out once and for all." 1 said.


	22. Reflections

Archangel stood in front a mirror and barely recognised the man who looked back at him. The scars and bruises he always seemed to carry these days were beginning to fade but still the man who looked back wasn't the person he'd ever been before. Before the Cylons had attacked things were simple, he had two lives and they were easily kept separate from one another. His life on Atlantia as the CAG and his life as a black ops agent were who he was most of the time, then the person he was when he went home was completely different, completely separate. This was a luxury he could no longer afford. Everything had been thrown together and no matter how much he tried to change it that's how they would stay. He took a deep breath and then looked down at his hands, they were covered in blood. He turned on the taps of the sink he stood in front of and began to wash it off. It made a change to be washing someone else's blood off him. So often recently it had been his own. As he looked back into the room next to him he felt nothing as he looked at the bodies of the seven men he had just killed. It had been so easy to take their lives and it felt so natural. He couldn't remember when the ease of taking a persons life had come to him. He had trained hard to become the man he was, he had killed more people than he could count and always it had been for the greater good. These men had been the same, they needed to die and he had only been too happy to help.

He dried his hands and walked over to the small bar in the living area. He saw a half full bottle of Ambrosia and poured himself a large glass before drinking it down in one. As he put the glass down on the table the door burst open and in poured a squad of six marines followed by Colonel Rae.

"Colonel." Archangel said.

"Major Hunter I hereby place you under arrest for collusion with the NCO and multiple murders including the murder of Karl Michaels." Rae replied, "Sergeant please restrain the Major."

The sergeant looked nervously at Archangel as he stepped forward.

"I'm sorry Archangel." The Sergeant said.

"Not as sorry as I am." Archangel replied as he grabbed the marine by the throat and spun him around to block the other marines and the XO.

"Major don't make this any harder than it already is." Rae said.

"Colonel I need you to give the Commander a message for me." Archangel replied.

"Come with us and you can tell her yourself." Rae replied her sidearm pointed at the young pilot.

"I'm afraid I can't do that but please when you wake up tell the Commander I'm nearly there."

4 DAYS AGO

Archangel was on his way back to his quarters to get changed after flying CAP. It had been six days since they had left New Caprica with nearly 5,000 new survivors and the fleet's reserves stocked back to capacity. His body was healing nicely from the injuries sustained by the hands of the Cylons and he was enjoying getting back into his day to day routine. He smiled as he saw Wedge appear along side him.

"Can we talk?" Wedge asked.

"Sure, what's on your mind?" Archangel asked.

Wedge seemed nervous, Archangel wondered what he wanted to say.

"If you don't speak we can't talk." Archangel replied with a laugh.

"Okay I'll come straight to the point, I'm in love with your sister."

Archangel stopped as Wedge finished speaking. Wedge almost seemed to flinch as though he expected Archangel to throw a punch.

"Go on." Archangel said.

"What happened with the Cylons, when they took her there was nothing I could do I was beside myself, I didn't know what to do. I would have done anything to get her back. It made me realise even though we haven't been together that long that I love her and I don't want to be apart from her like that again. What I'm trying to say is I want to ask your sister to marry me and I would like your approval first." Wedge said.

Archangel looked at Wedge for a few moments, "I like you Wedge, you're a decent man and I trust you with my life. Even though initially I wasn't happy when I found out about you two I realised that I wouldn't be happy no matter who was with her. I breathed a sigh of relief when I thought about it, that of everyone she chose you, when I think about some of the guys I've seen give her the eye," Archangel shuddered at the thought, "I don't need to do the big brother routine and tell you what will happen if she gets hurt do I?"

"No, gods no. I'd die before I hurt her." Wedge replied.

"And you'll die if you do." Archangel replied with a face of seriousness. Wedge didn't know how to react, should he laugh? Should he smile? Should he say anything? He breathed an audible sigh of relief when Archangel cracked a smile and let out a laugh.

"Go for it." Archangel said holding out his hand for Wedge to shake.

"Thank you, I promise she…"

"None of the promises or what you intend, I know that, just go find her."

Wedge smiled and patted his friend on the shoulder, "Thank you." He said sincerely.

Archangel let out another laugh as he continued to walk and Wedge ran back in the direction he'd come from. He had been serious though, if some of the people he had noticed look at her had tried it on with Carrie they wouldn't be able to walk anymore.

….

Wallace Gray sat with President Vents and Commander Garrett aboard the Caprican Sunrise. He had been one of the survivors from New Caprica and had been left behind during the exodus.

"I left the government long before Gaius Baltar became President. President Roslin and I had some differences of opinion that meant we couldn't work together any more. When we arrived on New Caprica at first I didn't know what to do with myself. I decided sometime later that I would try my hand at farming of all things. When they Cylons arrived that stopped. Baltar gave an immediate unconditional surrender. I know there were a lot of people who hated him for that, Roslin included. They thought he had betrayed them and they wanted him dead as much as they did the Cylons. I mean honestly what could he do? If he hadn't taken that course of action we would have all been dead then and there. When Galactica came for us I was at the far end of town, I tried to get to a ship but just couldn't make it in time. If you guys hadn't come when you did I have no doubt we would be dead." Wallace said.

"Do you have any idea which way Galactica went?" Garrett asked.

Wallace shook his head, "No I'm afraid not. Adama and Roslin kept that very close to their chests, with the threat of not knowing who was a Cylon they kept a lot to themselves."

"That's understandable. While we're here I want to offer you a position in my administration as a senior advisor." Milo said.

"Thank you Mr President, I'd like that." Wallace replied.

"I've been talking to other survivors from New Caprica and they've given me a few topics that need to be discussed at the open forum at the end of the week. They are very worried about finding and settling on a new planet while the Cylons are still a threat." Milo said.

"That is understandable but right now and for the foreseeable future when are the Cylons not going to be a threat?" Garrett replied.

"That's why it needs to be brought to a public debate, we need the people of the fleet to see that right now we should be letting the military fight the good fight and then think about where we live," Milo said, "Wallace I was hoping you would stand with me when I bring this topic up, you have the first hand experience of what it's like to be on a planet with the Cylons."

"Of course Mr President, whatever you need."

….

Bojay stood in front of Orion's Raptor squadron in the briefing room.

"Okay boys and girls it looks like Bria must have slept in but never fear we'll carry on without her. Okay today's the day we start scouting missions again, gods only know why as we're not going to be settling on a planet anytime soon. Still the President wants it to look like we are to keep the civvies happy. You've all been given your sectors, go take a look, get the data the scientists on the Columbia want and then head home," Bria ran in and took her seat as he spoke, "Good morning Bria, good sleep?" Bojay asked with a smile.

Quiet laughter could be heard in the room as Bria gave Bojay one of her "I'm going to kill you" looks, "Well I have to get it when I can, they can hear you snoring all the way to the engine room."

The laughing got louder.

"Okay back to the briefing, if you come across any Cylons, I don't care how many or how few there are get your asses back here straight away. I want no heroics do I make myself clear?"

The pilots nodded and make noises of agreement.

"Okay skids up in thirty, good hunting." Bojay said.

As the pilots left the room Bria waited behind.

"So whose been keeping you up all night?" Bojay asked.

"No one." Bria asked blushing slightly.

"Oh right okay, because I thought it was Skeeter." Bojay replied with a smile.

"What? Who told you? Did Skeeter say?" Bria asked.

"Bria I'm surprised you don't already know this, but you can't keep a secret on a Battlestar!"

"Does everyone know?" she asked.

"More or less. Hey don't worry about it, there's nothing to be embarrassed about, Skeeter's a good guy, everyone on the ship likes him." Bojay said.

"I know it's just I hoped I would have longer with it just being us before everyone else knew."

"Sorry to be the bearer of bad news." Bojay replied.

As they left the room the nuggets walked in and took their seats. Jasper Vents was very nervous. He and the rest of the group were about to find out if they would be joining Orion's viper wing . Normally the training to become a pilot would have taken them years but due to the current circumstances and restrictions their training had been quite intensive.

"OFFICER'S ON DECK." One of the nuggets bellowed as Streaker walked in followed by Archangel. Streaker took the stand and looked at them all before letting them sit down.

"Well here's somewhere I never thought I'd be with some of you. Firstly I want to say well done to all of you for having the balls required to come aboard this ship and undergoing this training at this time. I didn't have very high hopes for some of you at all but I'm pleased to say that you have all impressed me, some more than others. You have all completed your training and you have all passed," there was a muted cheer from the pilots. Streaker smiled, "Now the real test begins. You will be thrown straight into your duty rotations, normally we'd have a big ceremony and you'd get time to catch your breath but I know you all appreciate why that can't happen anymore. You've all done me proud, you haven't let yourselves down but more importantly you haven't let me down. Keep up the hard work."

Streaker stepped down and Archangel took the podium.

"First and foremost I want to say congratulations to you all. Some of you I haven't met yet, others I have and from what I've seen I'm already impressed by you. The job you are undertaking is a hard one, you will be fighting for your lives every day. But remember all the things you have learned, stand by each other and the other pilots on this ship and you'll make it home. I only have a couple of rules that I expect to be obeyed. You must all continue to give the level of excellence that you have already shown, if you don't you will have a heated conversation with your squadron leader and me. The second rule relates to the deck gang. In my years of service I've seen some pilots treat them like crap. This is something I will not tolerate. They keep our planes in working order, they keep us alive when were in a fight for our lives. You will show them the same respect you show me or any other pilot or officer aboard this ship. A higher rank does not make you better than anyone. I do want you to know that I am here for you, if you need to talk, if you have any problems come find me, I'm here to help. Okay we're going to tell you which squadron you've been assigned too, once we have go find your squadron leader. Some of you will be thrown straight into the CAP or into alert status, some of you will be on your off days."

As Archangel continued to tell people where they would be serving Jasper found himself very nervous. He had no idea where he would be heading or who he would be answering too.

"Lieutenant Vents." Archangel said.

Jasper snapped out of his daydream, "Yes sir." He replied.

"You must have done something right because you've been requested by one of our best."

Jasper didn't know what to say, he wasn't sure who it could be.

"Lieutenant Thomlins has requested you be assigned to green wing."

"Jawbreaker?" Jasper said in utter shock.

"That's right, Jawbreaker. You've pulled off something that's hard to do, you've impressed the one pilot under my command who is the biggest critic."

Jaspers nerves had gone into overdrive. Other than when he had saved Archangel's life he thought the giant pilot hated him.

"Thank you sir." Jasper said.

….

Jasper stood at the door of one of Orion's many gyms. He watched as Jawbreaker pounded the punch bag in front of him. If he was honest Jawbreaker scared the hell out of him. He took a deep breath and walked into the gym.

"Lieutenant Vents reporting for duty sir." Jasper said nervously.

Jawbreaker stopped what he was doing and turned to face the young man. He flashed him a grin, "Good to see you Lieutenant. Do me a favour, hold this bag steady for me while we talk."

Jasper gulped a little as he took hold of the large punch bag and Jawbreaker started to pound it again, it took all his strength just to be able to keep hold of it and stay on his feet under the giant mans ferocious punching.

"You're wondering why I requested you for green wing?" Jawbreaker asked.

"The thought had crossed my mind." Jasper replied.

"You impress me. What you did in saving Archangel's life made you a lot of friends on this ship. I want you at my back during a fight and if you're half the man and pilot your father is then you'll do okay." Jawbreaker said.

"Thank you," Jasper said, "That means a lot."

"Well you've earned your praise. Have you been given a call sign yet?"

"No not yet."

"I've been giving it a lot of thought," he said punching the bag, "You need to be reminded of your old lifestyle and the things you've done and the man you are now. Something to remind you that the man you were died on Caprica. I'm going to call you Party Boy."

"Seriously?" Jasper asked not sounding impressed.

"Yeah seriously one thing you need to remember, if you don't like your call sign it can always be changed for something much worse." Jawbreaker said with a smile on his face.

"Can I ask you a personal question?" Jasper asked.

"Depends on what it is." Jawbreaker replied.

"Exactly how did you get your call sign?"

Jawbreaker stopped for a moment, "That Lieutenant is a story for a bottle of ambrosia and another day."

As he finished speaking he put all his strength into one final punch the strength of which knocked Jasper to the ground. Jawbreaker laughed and helped Jasper to his feet.

"Well Party Boy one upside to being in green wing, this is day 1 of our 4 days off. Go enjoy yourself."

"ATTENTION ON DECK" a voice bellowed.

Everyone stood to attention as President Vents walked into the room.

"At ease please." Milo said.

He walked over to Jawbreaker and his son. Jawbreaker saluted the president as did Jasper.

"At ease Lieutenants please." Milo said, "I was hoping to be able to speak with you." Milo said to Jawbreaker.

"Yes sir. Give us the room." He ordered to everyone else.

"I'll come find you shortly son." Milo said patting his son on the shoulder.

"Yes sir." Jasper replied.

As the room cleared Skeeter who was with the president shut the door to give them some privacy.

"Is everything okay sir?" Jawbreaker asked.

"Yes Lieutenant it is. I wanted to thank you."

"Thank me?" Jawbreaker replied surprised.

"For being so hard on my son. Over the last few months he's turned into the man I always hoped he would."

"I just want you to know sir that I didn't single him out, I was as hard on all of the recruits."

"Even if you had I would still be thanking you. Before the Cylons attacked I didn't know what to do with him. He never listened to me and did nothing with his life. I love my son but when he told me he was signing up for Viper training I had my doubts."

"We both did but I'm glad to be able to say he did us both proud. Can I ask you sir, you don't know who I am do you?" Jawbreaker said.

"Should I?" Milo replied.

"No sir. During the first war you saved my fathers life during the last engagement. Needless to say if it hadn't been for you I wouldn't be here now."

"My gods you're Andy Thomlins boy."

Jawbreaker smiled, "Yes sir I am."

"I haven't seen your old man in thirty years, what did he do after he left the service?"

"He moved to a small town on Picon and became Sheriff, met my mother and had me and my sisters."

"Sheriff huh, that sounds about right. Can I ask was he still on Picon when the Cylons attacked?"

"No he wasn't. He died ten years ago. He tried to stop a bank robbery single handed and ended up getting killed for his troubles."

"I'm so sorry to hear that."

"He was a hero. I'm the man I am because of him. I just wanted to say thank you for saving his life back in the day."

Milo shook the young pilots hand, "Are you free tomorrow evening?" he asked.

"Yes sir I am." Jawbreaker replied.

"Come over to the Caprican Sunrise, we'll crack open a bottle of whiskey and I can tell you some stories about your old man."

"I'd like that very much sir." He replied with a smile.

….

Adam Grayson had been on edge ever since he had been released from captivity. With all the things he had told Commander Garrett he was worried that somehow the others would know. As he walked into Mr Caprica's suite he felt nervous when he saw Caprica and Miss Tauron sat waiting for him.

"It's good to see you back with us," Mr Caprica said gesturing for Adam to sit down with them, "Sorry we haven't been able to see you before now."

"It's fine." Adam replied.

"I hope they didn't hurt you in any way?" Miss Tauron asked.

"No they didn't, they threw me in a room and left me in there. They didn't even speak to me."

"We feared they might torture you for information about us." Mr Caprica said.

"They never asked me a single question once they had me, they quite literally threw me in a room and left me." Adam replied.

"That's good," Miss Tauron said, "We were worried about you."

Worried about what information he may have told them Adam thought.

"That's good to know." Adam replied.

"In your absence we have accelerated our plans," Mr Caprica said, "We are nearly ready to take our followers to their new home. Very soon we will need you to talk to the people again."

"Of course, it's time we liberated them after all." Adam replied with a smile.

3 DAYS AGO

Archangel was awoken by his alarm clock. He reached out from under the covers and switched it off. The day ahead consisted of getting ready to go to the Starburst to show his face at public debate. He looked over and smiled when he saw Grace beginning to stir from her sleep.

"Good morning." She said with a smile.

Archangel smiled back, "Good morning." He leaned over and gave her a kiss.

"What time do you have to go to the Starburst?" she asked.

"14.00 hours." He replied.

"I wish I could go with you but I have a busy day." She said sitting up in bed.

"Everything okay in sickbay?" Archangel asked.

"Yeah. One of the engineers fell last night and broke his arm badly. I need to put his arm back into place, we couldn't do it last night as he had only just eaten before he fell we needed to wait so we could put him under."

"Well it sounds like your day will be a lot more exciting than mine." Archangel replied.

As he got up and began to get dressed the phone on the wall began to buzz, he walked over and picked it up.

"CAG." He said.

"Major Hunter this is Ensign Phillips I have a call for you from the Starburst." Phillips said down the line.

"Put it through." Archangel replied.

Moments later he heard a friendly voice on the other end, "Archangel?" Karl Michaels asked.

"Hey is everything okay?" Archangel asked.

"I need to see you as soon as possible." Michaels replied.

"Have you found them?" Archangel asked.

"I don't want to talk over this line the information is delicate." Michaels replied.

"I'll be there as soon as I can. The usual place?"

"I'll be waiting." Michaels replied.

"Is everything okay?" Grace asked as Archangel hung up the handset.

"Yeah everything's fine it just looks like I'm going to have to get to the Starburst a little earlier than I expected. I need to go find the Commander, I'll see you later." He said kissing her before he left his quarters.

….

Commander Garrett stood on CIC drinking a mug of tea while she checked through some paper work. She disliked the thought of having to spend all this time on the Starburst the same as Archangel did. One of the downsides of being Orion's Commander was she was expected to go to these political events. But she knew that showing support for the President was important, they had to show a united front in the face of the NCO and the Cylons. She couldn't imagine any other President that she would be able to stand along side with the same level of respect as she had for him. Most of them interfered with the military but as Milo Vents was a veteran and knew how things worked he left Garrett alone to do the things she needed to do. She looked up and smiled when she saw Archangel walking up to her.

"Good morning Major." She said.

"Good morning Commander, can I have a quiet word?" Archangel replied.

"Of course." Garrett said as they walked into one of the side rooms off the CIC. Archangel closed the door behind them.

"Is everything okay?" she asked.

"I have to head over to the Starburst straight away."

"Why?"

"I have to go see Karl Michaels, he has some information for me regarding the NCO." Archangel replied.

"What information?" Garrett replied, she was unsure why a survival expert would have information on the NCO.

"Before the Cylons took control of the fleet Michaels came see me. He told me that he used to be a black ops operative when he was younger. He specialised in finding people and making them disappear, that was why I sent Grace to him. He told me that he had been running his own investigation into the NCO, trying to find out who and where they were. He just got in contact, he's found something, what I don't know but he has something."

"Why didn't you tell me this before?" Garrett asked.

"With all due respect because you didn't need to know. Due to the nature of how we are trained we don't trust people which is why he would only tell me about it and asked me not to tell anyone else until we knew something. Even before Grayson told you that one of us is NCO he suspected it so he didn't want what he was doing to get back to them."

"You trust him?" Garrett asked.

Archangel nodded, "Completely."

"Okay but keep me informed. If you're not at your scheduled public appearances I'll know why."

"I'll let you know what I find out but for now we need to keep this between us don't even tell the President or the XO."

"Okay." Garrett replied nodding.

"Do I have permission to act on any information I deem to be time sensitive?"

Garrett nodded again, "Yes."

….

It was easy for Archangel to mingle into the crowds of people aboard the Starburst. There were many more people on the ship than usual because of the public debate and the Pyramid game that was due for tip off later in the afternoon. He felt uncomfortable wearing civilian clothes but they made him vanish into the crowd far easier than his uniform of flight suit would. The gun hidden under his jacket made him feel more comfortable. Up ahead he saw the bar that he and Michaels always used as a meeting point. As he walked inside he saw that it wasn't nearly as busy as he had expected it to be. He went up to the bar.

"How can I help you?" the barwoman asked.

"Just a coffee please." Archangel replied.

He looked around and there was no sign of Michaels.

"That's 4 cubits please." The woman said.

Archangel reached into his pocket and handed her the money before turning and walking to his and Michaels usual booth. No one even looked up at the young pilot as he sat himself down. It was a waiting game now but he expected Michaels wouldn't be long. He looked at his watch before taking a sip from his coffee. He looked up as he saw more people walk in but still no sign of Michaels. The minutes passed and an hour later there was still no sign of him. Archangel was staring to get a little worried, Michaels should be here by now he was never late. He sighed and stood up, he would go to Michaels. As he walked out of the bar it was still crowded outside. He mingled into the crowd and walked towards one of the giant ships shuttle busses. As he got on there was no room to sit so he walked to the back and stood on his own. He saw a crowd of young men get onboard who were there for the Pyramid game. They had clearly been drinking. Rowdy people like this were one of Archangel's pet hates. People looked up and gave them disapproving looks.

"What's your problem?" one of the men said looking towards an elderly woman who looked away. One of them walked over to her, "Come on old lady what's the problem? I saw how you looked at us."

"Please just leave me alone." The woman said.

Archangel didn't want to make a spectacle especially under the circumstances but when the man grabbed the woman by the wrist that was all it took. Without saying a word Archangel walked over and grabbed the man by the back of the head and smashed his face into the pole next to him where people would usually hold onto to stop themselves from falling over. He twisted the mans wrist behind him, forcing him down onto his knees in front of the woman. His friends backed off looking terrified by the look across Archangel's face.

"Apologise to this lady." Archangel said.

"Frak you." The man replied.

"My apologies." Archangel said.

"Frak you." He said again.

"I wasn't talking to you." Archangel replied and nodded to the woman. Archangel wrenched the mans arm in completely the wrong direction the crunch was sickening.

"I'm sorry." The man screamed.

"What for?" Archangel asked.

"What do you mean?" he yelled through the pain.

Archangel pulled the mans arm further making him to scream in pain.

"I'm sorry for grabbing you." He said.

"It's okay." The woman said nervously.

Archangel dragged the man up by his throat pulling his face in front of his, "If I ever see you again and you're behaving like this I'll kill you." He said quietly through gritted teeth. He let the man go and he staggered over to his friends.

"Sorry for that," he said to the lady, "I couldn't let him treat you like that."

"Honestly it's okay." She said.

Archangel realised he was making the lady and the others around him nervous so he turned to walk away.

"Thank you." She said as he walked away.

Archangel smiled and winked as he walked into the adjoining car. Two security guards came up to him.

"What the frak is going on?" one of the bellowed.

"Major Hunter, Battlestar Orion. Those guys were harassing that lady over there, make sure they get off at the next stop."

"Of course." He replied.

Twenty minutes later Archangel found himself at the Polar dome. One of the Starburst crew who manned one of the many entryways walked over to him.

"May I ask whom you're here to see?" he asked.

"Karl Michaels, my name is Major Hunter he's expecting me." Archangel replied.

"I don't think you're going to be warm enough in just that jacket sir." He said.

"I was hoping to take one of your snow trucks."

"Of course we have some ready."

He led Archangel to a garage section where three trucks that looked like converted snowploughs sat waiting.

"If you could just sign here Major." The man said smiling.

Archangel signed his name and then got into the truck.

"Just drop the keys in to the office when you're done." The man said.

"No problem."

As Archangel got underway he suddenly wished Michaels had chosen one of the warmer habitats to live in. There were so few people who lived in this dome, that was probably why he had chosen it. Archangel had time to think as he drove, he hoped that Michaels had found something that would lead him to the heart of the NCO. He wanted so badly to put a stop to them. He had a good feeling about this, he knew Michaels had been getting closer, the fact he had been called to see him boded well, he wouldn't have asked him to come unless it was for something good. Twenty minutes later he pulled up outside the small cabin at the foot of the small man made mountain. As he opened the door he was hit by the biting cold wind and the artificial snow it whipped up. He walked up to the door of the small cabin and knocked. He knocked again when he heard no reply. A few moments later he tried the door handle and it was unlocked. As he stepped inside he was met by the warmth which was very welcome.

"Michaels it's me." He said.

There was no reply. Archangel suddenly wondered if they had missed each other, maybe he hadn't waited long enough in the bar and his friend was now there. He walked into the living room and stopped dead in his tracks. Michaels sat dead in one of his chairs his throat slit from ear to ear. Immediately Archangel drew his weapon. He didn't let himself feel any sorrow over the death of such a trusted friend, he would mourn him later and find and kill the bastard who had done this to him first. The more Archangel looked at the scene the more it didn't add up, there was no sign of a struggle, it was almost as if Michaels had just sat there and let someone slit his throat. Michaels would have fought hard to stay alive. It would have taken someone very strong and highly trained to get the better of him, Archangel knew how well Michaels had been trained because he had had the same training. Michaels was one of the few people he had ever met who would have a chance of being able to take him in a fight. Quickly and silently he moved through the house, checking each room as he went along until he reached the back room that had the doorway for under the house. When he entered the room he saw that someone had beaten him to it, the bookcase that hid the door in the floor had been moved and it was open. With his gun gripped tightly he walked down the narrow stairway. Under the house had been ransacked, whoever had been there must have been looking for the information Michaels had for him. He walked over to the back wall and took out a series of stones that hid a small cavity in the wall, behind it sat a number of folders, thankfully whoever had done this hadn't been able to find the information, that was something at least. Archangel picked up a small backpack lying on the floor and put the files inside. As he put the bag on his back he heard movement from upstairs. With his gun back in his hand he quickly and quietly made his way back up to the house. As he neared the living room he could hear someone crying. He lowered his gun and stepped into the room where he saw Danny kneeling beside Michaels.

"How long have you been here?" Archangel asked.

"You," Danny said, "Why did you kill him?"

"I didn't kill him, I came in and he was already dead." Archangel replied.

Danny reached into his jacket and pulled out a small revolver and without saying anything else opened fire. Archangel dived out of the way but felt the burn of a bullet graze his arm. He dived out of the front door and ran. Danny chased him firing until he had unloaded all the rounds in his gun.

"I'LL FRAKING KILL YOU." Danny screamed.

….

Commander Garrett had finished everything she needed to do on the CIC, paperwork signed and a brief conversation with her XO later and she was ready to head to the Starburst. As she reached the door she heard Ensign Phillips call out.

"Commander there is a call for you from Captain Jonas." He said.

Garrett sighed and walked back to the dradis console in the middle of the room, "Put him through."

She picked up the hand set, "Captain Jonas this is Orion actual what can I do for you?"

"Commander, Karl Michaels is dead." Jonas said.

"What? When did this happen?"

"I'm not sure exactly when but his colleague found him with his throat slit. Your CAG was seen fleeing the scene of the crime, Commander it appears he killed him."

"No that's not possible he wouldn't do that."

"I've also just watched some footage of him attacking someone on one of our shuttle busses as well."

"Have you found him?" Garrett asked.

"No Commander we haven't but I have my security looking for him."

"I'm on my way over please meet me in the hanger bay when I arrive." Garrett said.

"Of course Commander."

"What's wrong?" Rae asked as Garrett put the handset down.

"Karl Michaels has been murdered."

"What?" the XO replied.

"And Archangel was seen fleeing the scene."

"But I thought he was still onboard, he isn't scheduled to fly to the Starburst till this afternoon." Rae replied.

"He left early, to see Michaels." Garrett replied.

"This doesn't make sense, I thought they were friends?" Rae said.

"They are. Ensign Phillips get me the President." Garrett said.

….

Archangel had broken into some small unused quarters deep in an empty part of the ship. He looked at the graze from where the bullet had hit him, it wasn't bad at all, and he had endured much worse. He cleaned it up before sitting down with the files in front of him. He couldn't get the image of seeing Michaels dead like that out of his head. Whatever Michaels must have found must have put him on the NCOs dradis. He opened the first file, it was full of photographs, most of them he had drawn a cross over so Archangel discarded them. He stopped when he saw one of Dr Mantill standing with someone Archangel didn't recognise but he assumed due to the tattoos that covered the man he was related to the Tauron crime scene, on the back of it was written "Ask Ramok". There were lots of other pictures as well of people he didn't recognise. Some photos had names written on them, but they all had ship names on them. When he opened the last file he saw a picture that intrigued him the most, he saw Adam Grayson, a number 1 Cylon and another man who was standing in shadows. The other man had been circled and next to it written Mr Caprica? Archangel was pretty sure with this information he would be able to strike at the heart of the NCO and when he identified someone from these pictures he would torture his way to the top. People had to pay for what they had done and someone would pay dearly for the death of Karl Michaels. He wanted to take this information to the Commander but he knew he couldn't, someone on Orion was NCO and he couldn't afford for anyone to be tipped off. He was also quite sure that by now word of Michaels death would have made it's way back to Orion as well as him fleeing the scene. This could work to his advantage, if he was suspected of Michaels death he would be suspected of being NCO, if that happened he might be able to work his way inside. He knew he had to go dark.

….

The President and the XO sat in Garrett's quarters, she had no idea what she was going to tell them but she knew she had to say something. Both of them sat waiting for the Commander to speak.

"I can't believe Archangel would murder Michaels." Garrett said.

"I would agree but this does seem somewhat damning." Rae replied.

"So he told you he was going to see Michaels?" Milo said.

Garrett nodded, "Yes he did."

"Did he say why?" Milo asked.

For the first time Garrett found herself doubting the two people sat in front of her.

"He said Michaels had something to tell him, that he'd found something to do with the NCO." Garrett replied, not telling the full truth.

"Maybe it was something to do with who on Orion or in the President's inner circle was NCO?" Rae said.

"I hate to say it but what if Archangel is the NCO agent and Michaels had found out?" Milo said.

"Then why would Michaels call him and ask him to come to him? Surely he would have told someone else?" Garrett said.

"I think that if Archangel was completely innocent he would have come and told us the information he found by now." Milo said.

"Maybe it's something he had to act on quickly?" Garrett said.

"Still his silence and the evidence so far isn't looking good." Rae said.

"Lets think about this logically, Archangel is an assassin, if he was going to kill someone who could name him in something like this surely he would be quieter about it?" Garrett said.

"He may not have been planning on killing Michaels when he went." Rae said.

"Before we condemn him completely I need to see the evidence Captain Jonas has and take a look at what happened over there." Garrett said.

"If Archangel is on the warpath should we call off the open forum?" Rae asked.

"No, I don't think he would be as bold as to do anything there. It would seem he's keeping a low profile for now." Milo said.

"We should talk to Skeeter and his sister, see if they have any idea where he would go." Rae said.

"Agreed I'll do that," the President said, "I'm not heading to the Starburst until tomorrow so I have time. Commander if you let me know what you find?" Milo said.

Garrett nodded, "Of course."

….

Archangel walked into Brother Ramok's prayer sanctuary. Ramok stood where he would address his congregation lighting candles.

"How are you Major?" he asked with a smile.

"Not good, I need to talk to you somewhere we won't be disturbed."

"Of course come with me." Ramok led Archangel to his quarters which were just at the back. He closed the door behind him.

"I assume Karl has sent you?" Ramok asked signalling for Archangel to sit.

"You could say that, he's been murdered."

Ramok dropped down onto his chair, "By whom?" he asked.

"I don't know. He called me this morning and asked me to meet him, he'd been doing some undercover work into finding out who runs the NCO. When I got to his home I found him dead with his throat slit. Danny found me there and before I could explain he started shooting at me, he thinks I killed Michaels and now others probably do as well." Archangel replied.

"You should go back to Orion, turn yourself in." Ramok replied.

"I can't. Michaels had left me some information, he's taken photos of people he suspects to be NCO, written on the back of this one it says ask Ramok," Archangel said handing him the picture, "Do you know who that is with Paul Mantill?"

"I only know his first name, it's Nathan. He sometimes comes to my services. He's from a Tauron crime family, I'm not sure which one though."

"Does he live on the Starburst?"

"I don't know, I know he travels around the fleet a lot, why I do not know. Is Dr Mantill involved with the NCO?"

"Right now I don't know, I'm going to have to go and talk to him and find out."

"I can't stress enough that you should go back to Orion."

"I have to see this through, I can't let Michaels death be meaningless, there have been too many deaths like that already, I have to make this count for something."

"What can I do to help you?" Ramok asked.

"Take a look at these other pictures, do you recognise any of them?" Archangel handed Ramok the pictures.

"By identifying any of the people in these pictures am I condemning them to death?"

"No. Nothing will happen to these people until I am 100% positive that they are NCO or had anything to do with Michaels death."

"I know this man," Ramok said pointing to one of the pictures, "His name is Nigel Verack. He thinks that by coming and confessing his sins to me the gods will forgive him."

"Can I ask what he's done?"

"You know I can't tell you that Mark."

"Fair enough. Do you know where I can find him?"

Ramok sighed and nodded, "Yes the Delphi bar, I believe you already know it?"

"Yes I do."

"Will you let me come with you? You need someone to watch your back."

Archangel replied, "I can't drag you into this as well, I can't loose another friend because of the NCO. Thank you for the offer though, it means a lot to me. Whatever you hear in the next few days I didn't kill Michaels."

"I know."

"But any other deaths you hear about will be me."

"I will pray that the gods watch over and protect you."

"Thank you."

"What do I tell the military when they come asking about you?"

"Tell them nothing. If they push tell them I came here briefly but didn't stay, tell them I said I was heading for a shuttle but you don't know where too." Archangel replied, "Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course." Ramok replied.

"If I've been wrong all these years and when I die the gods are real, will they forgive me for all the terrible things I've done?"

"I believe you are a good man, one of the best men I have ever met in my life. I pray for you everyday, that the Lords watch and protect you and you know what?"

"What?"

"You're still alive. Yes Mark I believe that when you die the gods will forgive you your sins and welcome you into their loving embrace."

"Will you light a candle for Michaels for me?"

"Of course. Should I light one for anyone else?"

Archangel shook his head, "Pray for anyone who dies by my hands over the coming days, because I'm going to send them straight to hell."

….

"No way." Skeeter snapped, "There is no fraking way he killed Michaels."

"I'm not saying he did for definite, but the signs aren't good." Milo replied.

"I'm telling you categorically that he did not kill Karl Michaels. Anyway if he had we wouldn't be having this conversation."

"And why is that?" Milo replied.

"Because he wouldn't have been seen or have left any evidence behind." Skeeter replied.

He paced back and foreword clearly adjitated.

"Skeeter you have to calm down." Carrie said.

"What?" Skeeter replied, "How can you say that, your brother is being accused of murder, not only that but the murder of a man who he trusted, who was his friend."

"Skeeter, sit down and calm down." Milo said in a voice that Skeeter knew meant that he wasn't messing around. Skeeter sighed and sat down.

"Look I'm sorry," Skeeter said, "I just automatically go on the defence when it's Archangel."

"I understand but we need to find out what happened, where he might go?" Milo said, "The longer he is absent, the longer he stays away the worse it's going to look for him."

"I have no idea where he might go." Carrie said.

Milo looked at Skeeter.

"No idea, Michaels is dead that's the only other place I can think he would go."

"If I asked you guys to tell me if you hear from him would I be wasting my breath?"

Carrie and Skeeter looked at each other, "I think I speak for us both when I say we'd rather not answer that question." Skeeter replied.

"I thought as much," Milo stood up, "Take the rest of the day off we head off to the Starburst for the open forum tomorrow."

….

Commander Garrett was escorted onto the bridge of the Starburst where Captain Jonas met her.

"Welcome aboard Commander." Jonas said.

"Thank you Captain."

"I assume you want to see the footage straight away?"

"Yes please." Garrett replied.

Jonas led her to a console and called up the video footage. Garrett watched as Archangel attacked the man on the shuttle bus. She sighed when it finished.

"This is nothing." She said.

"What do you mean nothing he attacked that man." Jonas replied.

"Yeah a man who was clearly being abusive to that elderly woman, he did what anyone of my crew would have done under the circumstances. Do you have anything else?" Garrett asked.

"Only his signature at the entrance to the polar dome. He signed out one of the snow mobiles."

"So we already know he was there, so far I haven't seen anything that proves his guilt in the death of Karl Michaels."

"What about the eye witness who identified him fleeing the scene?"

"But did he see Major Hunter kill the man?"

Jonas paused, "No."

"When my XO calls with the results of the autopsy can you put her through to my quarters?" Garrett asked.

"Of course Commander." Jonas replied.

She turned and walked off the bridge. So far she had seen nothing to make her believe Archangel had killed Michaels, someone must have found out what he was doing and gotten to him first.

….

The Delphi bar was just how Archangel remembered it. As he walked to the door he expected the two bouncers to stop him in his tracks but they didn't bat an eyelid as he walked straight in. It was very busy. He quickly scanned the room but couldn't see Nigel Verack, he did however see Curtis Turner sitting in the same booth as last time. He sat with two young women and the table was blocked by two of Curtis' bodyguards. They blocked Archangel's path as he tried to get to the table.

"I'd like to speak with Mr Turner." Archangel said.

"Well Mr Turner doesn't want to speak with you." One of the bodyguards replied.

"It's okay James let him past." Curtis said from the booth when he saw Archangel standing there, "Major please sit, forgive me but you are the last person I ever expected to see back here."

Archangel sat down facing Curtis, "In all honesty this is the last place I ever intended on coming back to but needs must."

"I notice you're not in your uniform this time."

"I'm not here on any official business, I'm looking for someone."

"I seem to remember you were looking for someone last time as well, how did that work out for you?" Curtis asked with a smile.

"Good for me, bad for the people who got in my way," Archangel passed him a photo, "I'm looking for this man, his name is Nigel Verack and I'm told on very good authority that he frequents your bar."

"You know helping you find people has a history of being bad for my business, last time a lot of the people you murdered were patrons of mine." Curtis replied.

"Here's the deal, you tell me where I can find this man and I don't burn your bar to the ground."

The smile was gone from Curtis' face now, "I'm not a man who responds well to threats Major."

"And I'm not a man who makes threats that he generally doesn't follow up on."

"I have ten men in this bar who with one word from me will come over here and rip your head clean from your shoulders."

Archangel smiled, "If you do utter that one word then you better have ten more men hidden away somewhere because I'll kill them all, now where is Nigel Verack?"

Curtis picked up the picture and threw it back at Archangel, "Frak you Major."

Archangel smiled before pulling his knife out from his boot and lunging it through Curtis' hand pinning him to the table. He turned with his gun in his hand and shot both of the closest bodyguards through the head killing them instantly. Screams and yelling erupted from all around. Archangel put his gun back in its holster as the first of the other guards lunged at him. Archangel dodged out of his way grabbing the mans wrist he spun him round grabbed the man by the head snapping his neck. As the second body guard appeared Archangel grabbed an empty bottle of beer smashed it on the nearest table and lunged it into the man's throat before tearing it out, blood spurted everywhere as the man died gurgling on his own blood. As the bar cleared the other seven bodyguards including the two bouncers from outside all stood in front of him. They all went for him at the same time. Archangel wasted no time he drew his gun again and killed each of them with just one shot each. As the last one of them hit the ground the barman stood looking at the Major from behind the bar with a shotgun shaking in his hands. He looked scared out of his mind.

"I'll give you one chance to go." Archangel said.

The barman dropped the shotgun and ran.

Archangel turned back to Curtis whose hand was still stuck to the table by his knife.

"So where were we?" Archangel said as he sat back down.

"Starburst security will be on the way." Curtis spluttered through the pain.

"No they won't. The first thing Captain Jonas said about this place was that his men never came down here, they left you to your own devices. So where is Nigel Verack? Are you going to tell me or do I have to get more creative?"

Curtis tried to remove the knife but it wouldn't budge from the table.

"He lives on F deck, cabin 477." Curtis sputtered.

"Thank you, now that wasn't so hard was it?"

"You have no idea who he is or who he works for!"

"I'm guessing NCO?" Archangel replied.

Curtis nodded, "Yes."

"Well normally at this point I'd leave you here but I can't risk anyone coming in and letting you out before I can get to see Mr Verack, I can't have you warning him."

"What does that mean?" Curtis asked.

Archangel shot him between the eyes before walking out of the bar.

….

Galen Hunter finished packing his things in his quarters. The plan was finally moving towards its end phase and not a moment too soon. In a couple of days he would be heading to the new ship he would call home and then the fun would really begin. He poured himself the last of the whiskey in the bottle on the coffee table and then sat down. He smiled to himself as he took a sip from the drink. He looked up as John Cavill walked into the room.

"John, I trust everyone is ready?"

"Almost but that's not why I'm here. Karl Michaels has been dealt with and it appears your son is getting the blame for his murder."

Galen let out a little laugh, "Then things really are going our way."

"He's leaving a trail of destruction behind him as we thought he would."

"Do you know where he is?"

"No, he's keeping a very low profile. I've just learned there was a fight in the Delphi bar only half an hour ago, Curtis Turner and all his men are dead."

"Well that saves us having to do it before we go."

"You're not worried?" 1 asked.

"Why should I be? Turner didn't know anything that could hurt us."

"Yes but he knows people who do."

"Tell Adriana what you've told me, tell her things are still progressing as we thought they would be. Tell the rest of the Twelve things are nearly ready for our take over but don't tell them anything about my son."

"Of course."

As 1 walked out of the room he couldn't make himself share Galen Hunter's hopefulness. If his son found them or even just saw him then it would be game over very quickly. Right at this moment 1 had no intention of getting himself killed, Orion's fleet was too far out and there was no resurrection ship anywhere near them.

….

Nigel Verack walked towards the door to his quarters.

"I'm coming." He shouted to whoever it was banging at the door.

As he opened it the last thing he saw before he lost consciousness was Archangel's fist a split second before it connected with his face. As he slowly began to come back around the pain in his face was the first thing he noticed. As he eyes began to adjust he saw Archangel sitting opposite him smiling. He tried to get up but he realised he was tied to a chair.

"Do you know who I am?" Archangel asked.

Nigel shook his head, "No." he replied groggily.

"My name is Mark Hunter I'm Orion's lead pilot. But the important part of who I am right now for you is I am a black ops agent. I'm trained to kill and to get information out of people and you have information that I need."

"I don't know what you're talking about, I'm no one." Nigel replied.

"You're NCO."

"No I'm not."

Archangel took out the photograph stained with Curtis Turner's blood.

"This was taken by a very good friend of mine who has since been murdered. Curtis Turner then identified you as NCO before I blew his brains all over the back of his bar. One way or the other you're going to tell me everything I need to know. What do you do for the NCO?"

"Nothing I don't work for the NCO."

Archangel took out a knife and slowly slid it into Nigel's kneecap up to the hilt before twisting it. Nigel screamed in agony.

"What do you do for the NCO?" Archangel asked again.

"I recruit people." Nigel said through the screams.

Archangel pulled the knife out, "And once you've recruited them what do you get them to do for you?"

"Post leaflets, find more people to recruit and deliver packages."

"Are you responsible for all the kids we found working for the NCO?"

"Anyone who comes to us does so of their own free will."

"Who on Orion is NCO?" Archangel asked.

"I don't know." Nigel replied.

Archangel slid his knife into Nigel's other knee.

"I swear I don't know." He screamed, "I'm not high up enough to know that type of information."

"Who is?"

"The Twelve and their trusted advisors."

"Who are the Twelve, what are their real names?"

"I don't know."

Archangel twisted the knife.

"I've never met them. When they want me to do something they either send me a message or some ex Tauron crime guy comes to see me."

"Is this him?" Archangel asked showing him the picture.

Nigel nodded his head, "Yes that's him."

"What's his name and where can I find him?" Archangel asked.

"All I know is his name is Nathan I have no idea where he lives."

"The other man in the picture, is he NCO?"

Nigel nodded, "Yes that's Dr Mantill, he's the Twelve's private doctor. He knows names and faces."

Archangel always knew he would have some sort of confrontation with Mantill, he had done nothing but piss him off since he joined their group on Sagittaron.

"Does Dr Mantill still live on this ship?"

Nigel shook his head, "No. Last I heard he was on the Pacifica."

"What's the NCO's endgame?"

"I can't tell you that." Nigel protested.

Archangel tore out the knife and without saying a word grabbed Nigel's hand and cut off his little finger.

"What's the endgame?"

Nigel stayed quiet so. Archangel cut off the next finger along. Nigel screamed in agony.

"They're planning to take over the fleet. That's all I know."

"You've been most helpful." Archangel said.

"Are you going to let me go?" Nigel replied.

"That depends, who killed Karl Michaels?" Archangel said standing up in front of Nigel.

"I don't know, I didn't even know anyone was going to kill him."

"Wrong answer." Archangel replied as he stabbed Nigel in the heart before tearing the knife out.

….

Jawbreaker sat with the President as they drank Ambrosia and talked about his father.

"He was one hell of a stick," Milo said, "Saved my ass on more than one occasion."

"He used to tell me about the war when I was a kid, told me all about how you saved his hide during that dog fight during the final day," Jawbreaker said, "Ever since then all I wanted to do was fly Vipers, if I could be half the man my dad was then it would be a life well lived."

"The Commander speaks very highly of you as does the XO and she doesn't seem to like many people."

They both laughed, "I've got a lot of time for Colonel Rae, she's hard on the crew but deep down she has a heart of gold."

"I need to ask you about Archangel, what do you think of him as a man and a CAG?"

"Where do I start? I've been fortunate enough to serve under some of the best CAGs in the fleet but Archangel without a shadow of a doubt is the best of them. He's the finest pilot I've ever seen. Every pilot on that ship would gladly give their lives for him, we respect him and he respects us. He's a good friend and a fair man. It doesn't matter if you're the Admiral of the fleet or a Petty Officer he treats everyone the same. As a squadron leader I couldn't ask for more, he lets me get on with it and run things my way. He has a temper though."

"Really?" Milo replied.

"With all due respect sir you know that as well as anyone. I've heard stories about him and rumours."

"What rumours?"

"That he was an assassin before the Cylons attacked, if you needed someone taking out he was the man the government and the admiralty went too. I heard, now I'm not saying it's true that he took out the worst of the worst, the lowest of the low. One of the ECOs on Orion, her sister was a cop, apparently he was picked up one night after being found at the scene of a murder. Now I'm not just talking one person dead I'm talking thirty, all killed with his bare hands. Apparently they were all gangsters' men, they were involved in trafficking kids or something, the type of person any decent human would off and not give it a seconds thought. If the story is true he was at the police station for ten minutes before some men in black appeared and that was it, they never heard any more of what happened again."

"Do you believe that story?" Milo asked.

"I don't know," Jawbreaker replied, "I saw the anger in his eyes when Skeeter was taken prisoner by the SFM, anger unlike I've ever seen before. I'm not saying I believe a word of it, but if it's true then he deserves a pat on the back and a fraking medal for what he did and the scum he had to deal with. If I heard Archangel killed a man, no matter who it was, my initial thought would be then they deserved to die." He took another sip from his drink as he finished speaking, "Right I need to hit the head."

"Through there." Milo said pointing to another room.

"Thank you sir."

Jawbreakers words rang in his ears and he couldn't help but to agree with the pilot. He was snapped out of his thoughts by a knock at the cabin door. He straightened himself off and walked over. Outside stood two of the Quorum members and another man he didn't recognise.

"May we speak with you Mr President?" Paul Briggs the Quorum member for Aquaria asked.

"Of course come in." Milo walked back into the room letting them close the door behind them. As he turned all three men were pointing guns at him.

"What the frak is going on?" Milo asked.

"I'm afraid we need you to come with us, Mr Caprica has requested your presence." Paul said.

"You're NCO?" Milo asked.

Paul nodded, "Yes we are."

As Jawbreaker walked back into the room everyone was startled for a second. The man the President didn't know fired his gun hitting Jawbreaker who fell to the ground.

"You son of a bitch." Milo exclaimed.

"You make a sound or try to warn anyone and everyone we come across dies." Paul said reaching for the President.

The first the man who had shot Jawbreaker knew he hadn't killed the pilot was when Jawbreaker was standing next to him.

"That hurt." Jawbreaker said momentarily looking at the blood that poured form his shoulder. He swung a punch that connected with the mans jaw with every ounce of strength he could muster. The man's head spun around under the force and his neck snapped under the power.

"And that's why they call me Jawbreaker." He yelled.

The President used the few seconds distraction to grab the open bottle of Ambrosia and smash it over Paul's head knocking him out cold. Before Shaun Bell the Quorum member for Libran could turn his gun towards the injured pilot jawbreaker grabbed him by the throat and lifted him a foot off the ground with one hand and batted the gun away from his hand with the other. He pulled the terrified man towards his face.

"Give me a reason not to choke the life out of you?" Jawbreaker said with pure rage in his voice.

The man tried to breathe and even make a sound but Jawbreakers vice like grip stopped both of those from happening. Shaun tried to punch the bleeding wound on Jawbreaker's shoulder in an attempt to hurt him. He just looked at the man and let out a laugh, "Is that the best you've got?"

"Jawbreaker please let him go." Milo said.

He didn't reply he just kept his grip tight.

"Lieutenant Thomlin release that man, that is an order." Milo said.

Jawbreaker snapped out of his rage induced trance and dropped the man to the ground as he gasped for air.

"Mr President are you okay?" Jawbreaker asked.

"Yes I'm fine are you? You've been shot."

"It's nothing sir." He replied.

The door burst open and security came running in.

….

The Commander stood in the Delphi bar with Starbursts security. Whatever had happened here it had been very one sided.

"So you're going to tell me why you've never told us about this place before?" Garrett asked Captain Jonas.

"Because when you're loved ones are threatened you do what you have to do." Jonas replied, "Your man needs to be stopped."

"We don't know this was him yet." Garrett replied.

"Come on he's on a rampage, anyone can see that." Jonas replied.

One of the security officers walked up to them, "I've just taken a description from the bar tender and it fits Major Hunter to a tee. Apparently he's been in here before. He said after he'd killed all these men he turned to him and told him to leave."

"Thank you sergeant." Jonas replied turning to Garrett with an "I told you so" look on his face.

"If he was on a rampage and just killing, why would he let the bar tender go?" Garrett said, "Do you know if this bar had anything to do with the NCO?"

"Genuinely I've no idea," Jonas replied, "This is the first time I've ever been down here."

One of the other officers came up to them.

"Commander you have an urgent call from Orion."

"Excuse me." Garrett replied.

Looking at this scene it scared Jonas to think one man could do all this by himself. He wanted this man caught and off his ship as soon as possible. Seconds later Garrett came back over.

"I have to go, I'll be back tomorrow." She said.

"Is everything okay Commander?"

"No, the President has been attacked."

2 DAYS AGO

The Commander, XO and President stood outside the room where Paul Briggs sat.

"Should we believe him?" Rae asked.

"He's pretty convincing. He really doesn't seem to know who Mr Caprica is or who else is NCO. From what little information we have on the NCO they seem to keep other people's identities pretty quiet." Garrett said.

"We've put as much pressure on him as we can, normally I would have said send in Major Hunter. Is there any sign of him?" Milo asked.

"No and I still don't think he killed Michaels. I think he's doing what he can to find out who did kill him." Garrett replied.

"Do you think we'll be able to catch him?" Rae asked.

"No, I don't think we'll find him till he wants us too." Garrett replied.

As she finished speaking a patched up Jawbreaker appeared.

"Sirs I came as soon as I could." Jawbreaker said saluting them.

"At ease Jawbreaker. How would you like to scare the living crap out of someone?" Garrett asked.

"It's what I live for ma'am." Jawbreaker replied.

"I want you to go in there and put as much pressure on him as you can. Don't hurt him unless you have too." Garrett said.

"Yes ma'am." Jawbreaker replied with a frightening smile, "First though are you alright Mr President?"

"Thanks to you. Go put the fear of gods into him."

"Yes sir." Jawbreaker replied cracking his knuckles as he walked into the room.

Paul Briggs looked terrified as the giant man walked into the room. At first Jawbreaker didn't speak he just paced back and forward in front of him with a look on his face that would have intimidated even the gods. He stopped in front of the table that separated them and over turned it smashing it into the wall making Paul let out of muffled yelp.

"WHERE IS MR CAPRICA?" Jawbreaker screamed only inches from the man's face.

"I swear I don't know. We received orders to bring him to the Starburst where someone would take him to see Mr Caprica."

"WHO SENT YOU YOUR ORDERS?" he screamed again.

"Our contact, he calls himself John. I've never met him I swear."

"WHO ON THIS SHIP IS NCO?"

Paul hesitated for a second.

"WHO ON THIS SHIP IS NCO?"

"Major Hunter." He yelled back terrified.

Jawbreaker grabbed him by the throat, tore him out of his seat and pinned him against the wall. He looked into the terrified mans eyes.

"You're lying." Jawbreaker said letting go of the man who dropped to the floor with a thud.

"I'm not." He replied.

As Jawbreaker went for him again he heard the Commander's voice come over the intercom.

"Lieutenant that's enough." She said.

"If I see you again, I'll kill you." Jawbreaker said quietly before leaving the room.

As he met the Commander outside he spoke straight away, "He's lying." Jawbreaker said.

"I tend to agree." Garrett replied.

"We need to find Archangel, now." Milo said.

"Under the circumstances I think we should cancel the public forum." Garrett said.

"No, I will not be strong-armed by the NCO or Archangel. I'll have Skeeter with me at all times, if Archangel should turn up at least I'll have one of the only people with me who can get through to him." Milo said.

….

Skeeter and Carrie sat with Grace in sickbay while they waited for the President to head over to the Starburst.

"Have either of you heard from him?" Grace asked.

"No we hoped you had." Carrie replied.

"No nothing. I can't believe they think he killed Michaels and might have something to do with the NCO." Grace said.

"He must be trying to find who did kill him." Skeeter replied.

"Do you really think he killed all these people who are turning up dead?" Carrie asked.

"Aside from Michaels I'm guessing yes and that's why we haven't heard from him," Skeeter said, "Whoever he's looking for had better run for it."

"You're talking like he's done this kind of thing before?" Carrie said.

Skeeter and Grace looked at each other.

"What? What are you not telling me?" she said.

"I'm not sure it's our place to say."

"Tell me." Carrie said.

Skeeter took a deep breath, "Before the war your brother wasn't just a pilot. He was an assassin for the government and the military."

"Are you serious?" Carrie exclaimed.

Skeeter nodded his head, "You can't tell anyone, and there are only a few people who actually know. There are rumours about him but for most people that's all they will ever be."

"So you're telling me my brother is a killer?" Carrie said.

"You need to know that he did what he did to keep people safe. He was sent after the worst kinds of people, those who wanted to hurt the colonies and it's people. It's not as black and white as he's a killer." Grace said.

"So he has killed all these people and he could have killed Michaels." Carrie said.

"No," Skeeter said, "I'm telling you categorically that he didn't. Unless Michaels was a bad guy there is no way he would do that."

"Okay." Carrie said, "We better go see if the President is ready to go."

"Let me know if you hear anything." Grace said to Skeeter as Carrie walked away.

"Likewise." He replied.

….

Archangel sat by himself deep inside the Starburst. He sat in front of a small laptop he had connected to the ships main computer. He looked at the fake profile he had made himself. He needed to get off Starburst and knew he wouldn't get far if he showed them his military ID when he tried to board any shuttle. He held his newly made fake ID card, they would never be able to tell the difference. He knew that he didn't have long, as soon as he logged on they would be alerted to his presence. He estimated from the nearest security outpost he had approximately four minutes to find what he needed and get away.

"Okay," Archangel said to himself, "Here goes nothing."

As soon as he logged on he saw the bridge had already been alerted. It didn't take him long to hack into the fleets population database. He typed in Paul Mantill and waited. He looked at his watch and saw he had three minutes left. The faces of the civilian population flashed by him on the screen. Seconds later Dr Mantill's information appeared on the screen, he was on the Pacifica, D deck section 23 room 567. Archangel smiled to himself before launching a mini virus which would eliminate all traces of whose profile he had been looking at. When the virus had completed it's job Archangel drew his sidearm and put a bullet through the laptop making sure there was no way they could find out what he had been doing. As he left the room he only had seconds left, he could hear the ships security coming in the opposite direction. As he made his getaway he looked at his watch and smiled, he had a couple more things to do before he headed for the Pacifica.

….

The President and Commander stood by the side of the stage in Orion's biggest auditorium.

"Are you sure about this?" Garrett asked, "There's still time to pull out."

"No we need to carry on as normal," Milo replied, "Wish me luck."

Garrett smiled and nodded to Skeeter as he followed the President onto the stage. The auditorium went silent as Milo took the podium.

"Good morning," Milo said, "Thank you all for coming to this public forum. Over the next three days we will be addressing all of the concerns the people of the fleet have. The ships captains have all the questions and queries from the people on their ships have. Firstly I know the rumour mill has been set into overdrive. Some of you already know or may have heard that last night the NCO tried to kidnap me in my own quarters. They were led by former Quorum members Paul Briggs and Shaun Bell who have since been taken into custody about the Battlestar Orion. There was a third as yet unidentified male who was killed in a fight with one of Orion's pilots who saved me from these men. I will not be taking any questions about this incident, more information will be given to you as and when we have it…"

Archangel watched unseen from the back of the auditorium. It was nice to see the President and his best friend were okay. He could also see his sister and the Commander standing by the side of the stage. He had one more thing he had to do before he caught a shuttle to the Pacifica. He had to get off the Starburst as what he had planned next would halt all the air traffic coming too and from the luxury cruiser. He saw Wedge walking towards him from behind the auditorium. As he passed by Archangel reached out and grabbed his friend pulling him out of sight.

"What the frak is going on?" Wedge said.

Archangel put his finger in front of his mouth, "Please I need to talk to you and it has to be quietly."

"Everyone is looking for you, they think you killed Karl Michaels."

"I know."

"Did you?"

"No I didn't."

"Then come back with me to Orion so we can get this sorted." Wedge said.

"I can't." Archangel replied, "I'm getting closer to who killed Michaels and I'm getting further into the NCO."

"This is insane," Wedge said, "What about all these other people, did you kill them?"

Archangel nodded his head, "They're NCO, well most of them. Listen I need you to do me a favour."

"Are you fraking serious?"

"You owe me."

"For what?" Wedge asked.

"The fact you're fraking my sister and you can still walk." Archangel said back.

Wedge didn't know what to say to that, "What do you need?" he finally said.

"The next couple of days you're going to hear things that make you think I've gone off the deep end but I haven't. I'm getting further up the NCO ladder and it won't take long till I'm at the top. Whoever was involved with killing Michaels is going to pay with their lives, a lot more people are going to die. I need you to tell Carrie that I love her and everything I'm doing is for the survival of this fleet."

"I will."

"Thank you," Archangel said, "I have to go, be safe."

"You too, good hunting." Wedge said before Archangel darted away.

He moved quickly using crowds of people as cover for any cameras that might be watching. It took him ten minutes to get to the Starburst's hanger bay. He looked at the read outs of the flight schedule and saw the next shuttle to the Pacifica was about to board so he found the line. As he reached the front two armed security officers greeted him.

"ID card please." One of them said.

Archangel handed him the ID he had made. The guard scanned it into the computer system and waited for it to pull up his profile. Archangel waited for what seemed like an eternity but seconds later it beeped that it had found his details. The guard looked at the screen and then the card in his hand.

"Enjoy your time on the Pacifica Mr Spence." He said handing the card back.

"Thank you I will." Archangel said with a smile before getting onto the large shuttle. He found a seat and settled in. When the last of the passengers had taken their seats the intercom buzzed on.

"Welcome aboard Starburst shuttle 37 headed towards Pacifica. Flight time will be approximately twenty five minutes we'll try to make it as smooth as possible."

As it buzzed off, live footage of the public debate came onto the overhead screens. The President was still giving his opening speech. Archangel reached into his pocket and pulled out a small hand held detonator and watched. Moments later the President left the stage and Wallace Gray took over, telling the audience he was from Galactica's fleet and what had happened when they made the mistake of settling on a planet. Minutes later the shuttle was out into space and on it's way. Archangel took a deep breath, checked his watch and pressed the button in his hand. Explosions could be heard on the screen followed by the stage being cleared and screaming from the people in the auditorium. The screen cut to one of the channels presenters as she explained they didn't know what was happening and they would give more information as and when they had it. The chatter immediately fell to the NCO and how it must be them, this was exactly what Archangel was counting on.

As Skeeter led the President off the stage Milo noticed the tight grip he had on his gun.

"Are you okay?" Skeeter asked.

Milo nodded, "Yes thank you I'm fine."

"Fraking NCO." Skeeter said.

Garrett walked past him onto the stage.

"Commander it's not safe." Skeeter said.

"Did no one else notice there were explosions but no damage." She said pointing to where the explosions and smoke had come from. Skeeter followed her out.

"You're right." He said.

Wedge came running around and hugged Carrie when he saw her.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah I'm fine."

"Wedge can I borrow you a minute?" Garrett asked.

"Yes ma'am." He replied.

"I want to go and check out where the explosions came from." She said.

"Are you sure that's a wise idea?" he replied, "It could be unstable."

"I think they were flash bang grenades." She said.

He followed her up into the auditorium.

"Yep just as I thought." She said pointing to the used grenade.

Wedge wanted to tell her he'd seen Archangel but he didn't know what to say.

"Commander I need to speak to you in private." He said.

"We're on our own here Captain, speak your mind." She said.

He took a deep breath, "I saw Archangel."

"When?" she said.

"About twenty minutes ago." He replied.

"Where was he heading."

"He didn't say." Wedge replied.

"But you spoke to him?"

"He sought me out with a message for Carrie. Anyway he said that he didn't kill Michaels but he's on the trail of who did. He also said he's starting to find NCO and is getting further to the top."

"The other bodies?"

"Are from him. He's on the warpath and he said there are going to be a lot more before he's finished. What should we do?"

Garrett looked towards the President, "We keep this to ourselves. I get the feeling he did this."

"Why would he do that?"

"Because the NCO will get the blame. Right now Wedge everything is kept between us."

"Yes ma'am." He replied.

YESTERDAY

"You're watching Fleet wide News and I'm Sandra Jenkins. The public debate aboard the Starburst which was due to commence yesterday has been postponed due to a terrorist attack which seems to be being blamed on the NCO. There were several explosions during the speech of Wallace Gray who until recently was a survivor of the Battlestar Galactica's fleet. Luckily no one was hurt in the blasts but the office of the President and the Battlestar Orion have decided due to safety issues it will be postponed for the foreseeable future. With the fleet already divided on the subject of the NCO some speculate this is just a public ploy by the President or his supporters against the NCO. Those against the alleged terrorist organization are crying out for the military to search out and put a stop to them. In other news the identities of the bodies found on the Starburst or who may have killed them have not been released. Whatever is going on in our fleet is being kept very quiet….."

Mr Caprica switched the screen off as he finished his breakfast in his suite. He chuckled to himself, all publicity was good publicity after all. People around him were starting to panic due to the mysterious deaths that seemed to be befalling members of the NCO and people who they used for other things. They seemed to forget that very soon their plan would be implemented and it wouldn't matter what anyone else thought or did. Very soon he would be in a position of power, a position to make things happen on a large scale. As he finished his coffee in walked John Cavill.

"Good morning John I trust you're well today." Mr Caprica said.

"I've just received some news." 1 replied.

"Judging by the look on your face it's bad."

"Nigel Verack has been found dead in his quarters."

"Dead how?"

"From a knife wound in his chest, he had been tortured as well."

"Frak, how much could he have told whoever tortured him?"

"Not much, he didn't know the names of anyone above him or in a position of importance." 1 replied.

"But did he know the names of anyone who did?"

"Honestly I don't know. We have so many people working for us I loose track of who knows who and who knows what."

"Who would know?"

"Nathan might." 1 said.

"Send for him, I need to speak to him as soon as possible, we're too close to the endgame for it all to fall apart now."

"What about whoever has been killing us?" 1 asked.

"Once I've spoken to Nathan we send him out to deal with my son."

"Are you sure it's your son?"

"It has to be."

….…

Grace sat in Dr Hammond's office. She hadn't been able to sleep, she had been worried about Archangel. She had a pretty good idea what he was up to and this is what worried her, she knew what he was capable of but she also knew that the people he was gunning for were dangerous. She had no idea how far they were into the fleet, who they were or how dangerous they were. She looked up as Carrie and Skeeter walked into the office, Skeeter shut the door behind them. Since the incident aboard the Starburst the Commander had insisted the President stay aboard Orion until things died down.

"Have you heard anything?" Grace asked.

Carrie nodded her hear, "Wedge spoke to him yesterday. He told him that he hadn't killed Michaels but he has killed all those other people. He also said things were going to get a lot worse before he had finished and a lot more people were going to die."

"Did he say where he was going next?" Grace asked.

"No." Skeeter replied.

"That's what you two have to talk about? Who is my brother? I know what you told me but how can he do this?" Carrie said.

"He does what he thinks is right." Skeeter said.

"But he's killing people." Carrie said.

"People who deserve it." Skeeter replied.

"Does anyone deserve to die?" Carrie asked.

"Yes," Grace said, "These people are the worst of the worst, they don't have our best interests in mind, they just want to be in charge, there's no telling what will happen if they take over."

"Why didn't he tell me all this before?" Carrie asked.

"I'm sure he would have eventually," Skeeter said, "He wanted you to know who he was, the real man before you found out what he was trained to do. I've known your brother my entire life and I only recently found out."

"And how did you take it?" Carrie asked.

"I've seen your brother at his best and I've seen him at his worst and I can tell you no matter what he's the best man I've ever known. When we were fighting for our lives against the Cylons or even the humans he kept us alive and he's doing the same thing now, he's keeping us alive." Skeeter said.

"Don't form an opinion on him through the things you've heard or the things people think. Wait till this is over, sit down and talk to him, listen to why he's done this then you'll be able to understand. He's a hero." Grace said.

Carrie nodded her head, "Okay."

….

Mike Campbell was nervous, he always was when he was being escorted to the Commander's quarters. He looked across at Sergeant Vannick.

"Any idea what this is about?" Mike asked.

"I'm not allowed to say," Vannick replied, "It's nothing to worry about though."

As he walked into the Commander's quarters she was sat waiting for him with the President and the XO.

"Thank you sergeant that will be all." Garrett said.

"Yes ma'am." Vannick said turning and closing the door behind him.

"Please Mike sit down," the Commander said, "Can I get you a drink?"

"No no thank you." Mike replied nervously.

"There's no need to be worried," Milo said.

"Yes sir. Can I ask how I can help you?" Mike replied.

"We need you to look through Orion's computer systems." Garrett said.

"Okay." Mike said sounding confused, "May I ask what you'd like me to look for?"

"Anything that doesn't look right," Garrett said, "People accessing systems they shouldn't, off log calls, anything that seems strange."

"I'll do it of course but you realise it could take me days, maybe even weeks to check through the whole computer system?"

"It takes as long as it takes and we're going to give you anything you need in order to do this," Garrett said, "Whatever you find though I want the information to only come to one of us."

"You're looking for NCO and Major Hunter?" Mike asked.

Now it was everyone else's turn in the room to look confused.

"How did you know that?" Milo asked.

"With all due respect to you all it doesn't take a genius to figure it out. I know what's been going on, there are rumours abound across the fleet. Can I ask why you are trusting me?" Mike asked.

"Are you NCO?" Milo asked.

"NO!" Mike exclaimed, "I wouldn't have anything to do with terrorists."

"And that's why Mike, with all due respect to you because you can't tell a lie to save your life." Garrett replied.

"Before you go," Milo said, "Do you know anywhere in the fleet that Archangel may go if he was laying low?"

"Firstly I want to state that I don't believe any of the rumours I've heard. I don't respect a lot of people but I do respect Archangel, I've seen him in action and I've seen what he can do and does to keep people alive. Having said that whatever he's got himself involved in I think he needs help. The only place I could think of would be brother Ramok."

"Ramok, frak why didn't we think of him?" Garrett said, "Colonel can you take Mike to CIC and give him full access to Orion's systems?"

"Yes ma'am." Rae replied leading Mike out of the room.

"What are you going to do?" Milo asked after they'd gone.

"I'm going to see Brother Ramok." She replied.

"Are you sure it's wise, shouldn't you send someone else?"

"I'll take people with me I can trust." Garrett replied.

….

Nathan walked into Mr Caprica's suite, led by 1. Mr Caprica shook his hand as he walked in.

"Thank you for coming Nathan."

"What can I do for you?" he replied.

"I need to cut to the chase, time is a factor. As you know Nigel Verack has been killed. What I need to know is what information he could have given whoever killed and how that could lead his killer to us?"

Nathan thought for a moment, "There's always Dr Mantill. He knows everyone and lets face it he'll talk if he's pressured."

"Go pay him a visit, we can't risk that he may talk."

"Of course."

"Before you do, the killer who is coming for us I believe it's my son. I want you to take your best men, those who you trust and can handle themselves, find him and kill him."

Nathan seemed a little taken back by this, "Of course."

….

Archangel had watched Dr Paul Mantill all day as he went about his business. He went from patient to patient, all the people were just civilians, elderly people, children, people with illnesses etc. When Mantill answered the knock on the door of his quarters he was visibly surprised to see Archangel standing on the other side of it.

"Major, what a surprise, what can I do for you?" he asked.

"I need your help, can I come in?" Archangel replied.

"Of course." He said stepping aside to let him in, "Please take a seat."

Mantill sat in the seat next to Archangel who could tell the doctor was uncomfortable.

"What can I do for you?" Mantill asked.

"Have you heard Michaels is dead?"

"Oh my gods, no I hadn't, what happened?" Mantill replied.

"He was murdered."

"By who?" Mantill asked.

"That's what I'm trying to find out, I need you to identify someone for me." Archangel said reaching into his pocket and taking out the photo of Mantill with Nathan.

Archangel could see the worry increase on Mantill's face when he saw the picture, he had even begun to sweat.

"Who is this?" Mantill asked.

"That's what I want you to tell me." Archangel replied.

"I don't know." Mantill replied handing the picture back.

"Well it looks like you know him." Archangel said.

"I can't help you." Mantill said.

Archangel sighed to himself, "I know you're lying."

"I'm going to have to ask you to leave." Mantill said.

"Not until you tell me where I can find Nathan."

"I don't know."

"But you know his name is Nathan?"

Mantill took a scalpel out of his pocket and swung it at Archangel who grabbed the doctors wrist with ease. Archangel looked at the knife and saw dried blood on it.

"Whose is that blood?" Archangel asked before punching Mantill hard in the face making him drop the knife.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Mantill said wiping the blood away from his mouth.

"Well then lets see what I can do to jog your memory." Archangel replied.

Mantill tried to run past him towards the door. Archangel grabbed him by the throat and with his free hand drove his foot into Mantill's knee breaking it and making him fall to the ground in agony.

"I wonder how much pain you can endure?" Archangel said, "My guess is not much."

"If I tell you anything I'm a dead man." Mantill said.

"What the frak do you think you'll be if you don't tell me. The only difference is I can make it drag out a very long time causing you the maximum amount of pain, by the time I'm finished you'll beg me to kill you."

"My first question, where can I find this Nathan and who is he?"

"He's Miss Tauron's son." Mantill spat in agony, "He does the Twelve's dirty work."

"Where can I find him?"

"He lives here on Pacifica with him mother."

"And who is she?"

"All I know is she's called Adriana, she was part of some big Tauron crime family. You've already met her."

"Where?"

"The shuttle bus the other day. You may be looking for them but they're trying to set you up at the same time, turn your friends against you." Mantill said clutching his shattered knee.

"Who are the rest of the twelve?" Archangel asked.

"I only know them by their aliases."

Archangel reached down and grabbed Mantill by the collar and sliced the man's right ear off in one move, "WHO ARE THEY?" he screamed.

Tears poured down the man's face, "I swear I don't know."

Archangel let go of him dropping him to the floor.

"Whose blood is on this knife?"

Mantill didn't want to reply.

"I won't ask you again."

"Karl Michaels." He replied and then cowered behind his hands.

"You killed Michaels? Why?"

"Because they told me too. He was snooping and they don't want to be found."

"How did YOU kill Karl Michaels?"

"I had a plastic film over my hand with a drug on it, when he shook my hand it absorbed into his skin and paralysed him. Then I slit his throat. I'm sorry, they told me that was how I had to do it."

Archangel could barely control the rage and anger he felt building inside him.

"You know when we were on Sagittaron and Caprica I knew if you kept testing me one day it would come to this. Karl Michaels did not deserve to die, not by your hands, not by anyone's."

"I'm sorry." Mantill sobbed.

"If you say I'm sorry once more I'll cut your tongue out," Archangel replied, "You have one more chance to tell me anything you think I should know."

"There's nothing else, please believe me."

Archangel let out a slow breath, "Thank you doctor."

"Are you going to kill me?" Mantill asked through all his tears.

Archangel looked at the man before lunging for him. Mantill tried to fight back but Archangel was far too strong for him to stop even without his injuries. Archangel pulled the man's head backwards and slit his throat, exactly the same way Mantill had done to Michaels then stood up and dropped the scalpel. As Mantill tried to stop the gushing blood with his hands he gurgled for breath as the young pilot stood over him watching. As the last bit of light went out of Mantills eyes he slumped backwards dead. Archangel screamed a blood curdling scream and let out all of the rage he was holding in out as he tore the room to pieces. Smashing everything from the shelves, tipping over tables, smashing chairs into the walls, anything he could get his hands on to break. When he finished he stood taking quick deep breaths. He could hear people outside who must have heard the noises coming from within. Archangel stood on the overturned sofa and opened the grate that led into the air vents and closed it behind him just seconds before the door opened and people walked in. As he quietly crawled away he could hear peoples screams from the massacre he had left behind him. He felt a lot calmer.

….

Commander Garrett walked through the Starburst flanked by Vannick and Skeeter. None of them spoke as they walked. As they walked into Brother Ramok's sanctuary he was sat reading the scrolls.

"I was wondering when you would come to see me." Ramok said.

"Can I have a moment of your time?" Garrett asked.

"Of course, please all of you sit." Ramok replied.

All three of them sat down.

"I trust you're here to talk about Major Hunter?" Ramok said.

"Has he been here to see you?" Garrett asked.

"I cannot discuss anything that the Major and I have talked about."

"So you have talked to him?" Garrett asked.

Ramok let out a little laugh, "It would appear I walked into that one."

"Please we need to know where he is." Skeeter said.

"I cannot answer that." Ramok said.

"Please." Garrett replied.

"I cannot answer that because I do not know," Ramok said, he gave a sigh, "He did come here after he found Michaels body."

"How well do you know Archangel?" Garrett asked.

"Very well, he comes to see me quite often."

"I didn't think he was religious?" Garrett asked.

"He's not." Skeeter added.

"No he isn't," Ramok said, "He comes to me for council. Since we met on Sagittaron the Major and I have become very good friends, he needed someone to talk to so I offered my ear."

"He could talk to me." Skeeter said.

"With all due respect, I know that you have been friends since you were infants but there are things he needed to talk about that you wouldn't want to hear." Ramok said.

"Like what?" Skeeter asked.

"We all know who he is and the things that he has done, he needed someone to talk to about them. You know he is an assassin but you do not know what he has done or how it effects him."

"We need to know he's okay," Garrett said, "While we don't believe he killed Michaels other people do, the more people who are turning up dead the more he looks guilty."

"Can I ask you Commander do you trust Major Hunter?" Ramok asked.

"Yes, with my life."

"Then trust that he is doing the right thing." Ramok replied.

"I thought you of all people wouldn't condone murder." Garrett said.

"I don't but what he's doing is what he has done his entire life, he has done them to make sure the people you swore to protect are safe. I pray for every soul he has taken and every soul he takes and I pray that the gods keep him safe." Ramok said.

"Does he want you to pray for his soul?" Garrett asked.

Ramok nodded, "Yes he did. He asked that if when he one day dies and he finds the Gods are real that he goes to them with a clean soul. He also asked me to pray for all of the souls of the people who he kills."

"Erm Commander." Vannick said pointing to the screen on the wall in front of them.

Adam Grayson appeared on the screen.

"People of the fleet I have to tell you about things going on in the fleet, things that the government and the military do not want you to hear."

"Son of a bitch." Garrett said under her breath.

"As we progress towards freeing you as a people it is with a heavy heart that I must tell you one of our operatives has turned against us and has been doing terrible things in the name of the NCO. The CAG of the Battlestar Orion, Major Mark Hunter until a few days ago was one of our own, one of our bravest warriors but it would appear he has snapped, been driven insane with power. He has been systematically going around the fleet and murdering anyone he feels to be a threat to the NCO. This is not the case, we the NCO are not threatened by anyone and we certainly do not condone the course of action he has taken. This is a picture of Major Hunter," as he spoke a picture of Archangel appeared on the screen, "We are trying to find him and stop him before he can harm anyone else. We needed you to know this was happening so that if you see him you know to avoid him at all costs. He is armed and he is extremely dangerous and you must not approach him if you see him. Instead we urge you to call this number as soon as you can and give details to the automated messaging system and we the NCO will deal with this rogue operative and deliver him to the military and the justice that he deserves. We urge the people of the fleet whether they are with us or against us to stay strong, we will soon deliver you all the promises we have made and deliver you to salvation." He smiled as he finished speaking before the screen went blank.

"The cats out of the bag now." Vannick said.

"Brother Ramok if you know where he is please I urge you to tell me." Garrett said.

Ramok sighed, "Has he been to see Nigel Verack yet?"

Garrett nodded.

"Then I honestly have no news I can give you. He is searching for the heads of the NCO, only the gods can help him now."

TODAY

Despite having his face plastered all over the fleet Archangel had managed to move around undetected on the Pacifica. He had the feeling on a number of occasions that he was being followed and had taken precautions to make sure he wasn't, but he still couldn't shake the feeling. He had caught sight of Nathan about an hour before but had lost him quite quickly. He knew who he was up against now as he had remembered from one of his missions before the war which Tauron family Nathan must have been part of. He was closing in on him, it wouldn't take long now.

….

Mike sat in one of the small rooms situated off the side of Orion's CIC. Vannick stood guard at the door outside. He had brought a selection of his own computers over from the Columbus to hopefully speed up the process of searching through Orion's computers. So far it had been nothing but dull. As he took a sip from his coffee a name that flashed onto the screen caught his eye. He scrolled the page back and saw the name again Illum Spence. He knew he didn't know anyone of that name but he clicked up the profile anyway, his eyes widened when he saw Archangel's face looking back at him. He darted to the door.

"Are you okay?" Vannick asked.

Mike looked around the CIC and saw Colonel Rae standing at the dradis console.

"Colonel I need to speak with you." Mike said waving her over.

Rae walked over to the young man, "Is everything okay?" she asked.

"I've found something." Mike replied leading her into the room.

As soon as Rae saw the profile she knew why he had been flapping about.

"How recent is this?" Rae asked.

Mike looked at the history of the file.

"From what I can tell a couple of days, also there is information that he travelled to the Pacifica the day before yesterday. It appears that he used this profile to not draw attention to himself." Mike replied.

"Colonel," Ensign Phillips shouted, "We've just intercepted a call made to the NCO line."

"Play it." Rae replied.

A woman's voice came over the speakers, "I've just seen that man you warned us about, the pilot from Orion. I saw him go into a room on G deck, room 317 on the Pacifica. I hope you can get here soon."

"Ensign Phillips get me a team of marines and a raptor to get ready to go to the Pacifica, I want to be in the air in ten minutes."

"Yes Colonel." He replied.

"Inform the Commander of the situation, Mister Phillips you have the deck." Rae said as she walked off the CIC.

….

Archangel was starting to feel tired. He had gotten to used to sleeping in a set pattern and not pushing himself to go with the bare minimum of sleep, he was getting too comfortable, he was getting too sloppy. He splashed some water over his face in the small bathroom in the empty quarters he had found, dried his face and then sat down in the main room. As he felt himself begin to drift off he snapped too when he heard the door to the room be forced open. Archangel was on his feet and seconds later found himself surrounded by seven men. None of them said a word, they all just looked at him, some of them pointed guns.

"We're not going to chat first?" Archangel asked, "You're not even going to tell me you're NCO?" Archangel smiled as one of the men took out a knife and dived at him slashing wildly. Archangel dodged out of his way and ducked under the attack of a second man. He grabbed the man by the wrist and twisted it round and pushed him into the other man who had attacked him. The first man dropped his knife Archangel dropped down to pick it up as one of the other men shot at him missing entirely and hitting one of the others in the chest. Archangel swung his leg around and kicked out one of the others legs sending him crashing to the ground.

….

Colonel Rae waited impatiently for the raptor she and the team of marines sat in as it moved into the Pacifica's hanger bay.

"Bojay can we hurry this up?" Rae snapped.

"I can only go so fast Colonel, you of all people know that." Bojay replied.

Bria knew from Bojay's tone that he wasn't happy, she also knew that like her he didn't believe for a second that Archangel was NCO.

"Do you have something to say Captain?" Rae asked.

"Not that you want to hear," Bojay replied, "Pacifica control this is Orion raptor one I'm finishing my final approach and I'm touching down."

Rae decided not to push things any further. Minutes later the small craft had touched down and Bojay was powering down. As the back hatch opened the marines started to file out.

"Colonel I'd like to come with you, Archangel is my friend maybe I'll be able to talk to him." Bojay said.

"No, I want you both to stay here. I don't want people he's close too anywhere near him when we arrest him and you two are way too close."

"But Colonel." Bojay said.

"That's an order Captain." Rae said before she turned around and followed the marines.

"What the frak are we going to do?" Bojay said.

"Nothing," Bria replied, "There's nothing we can do. Trust me I want to help him as much as you do, he's saved my life more times than I can count but the best thing we can do now is nothing. If they manage to arrest him we make sure we rally everyone around him aboard Orion."

"The XO is just so eager to believe that he's guilty, it makes me sick." Bojay said.

"The Commander is on his side though," Bria said, "As long as she sticks with him he'll be okay."

"I've been talking to Wedge and the other squadron leaders we're all going to back him."

….

Six bodies lay on the floor around Archangel and the last man. Archangel could tell by the look in the man's eyes that he was terrified.

"You tell me where the man they call Nathan is and I'll let you walk out of here." Archangel said.

"If I tell you he'll kill me."

"Why do you people think that if you don't tell me I won't kill you?" Archangel said with a blood stained knife held tightly in his grip.

"If I tell you then you had better kill him." The man said dropping his knife onto the ground and holding his hands up.

"Don't worry I will." Archangel replied.

"He sent us here. He told us to kill you and bring him your head. He's waiting in his quarters with his mother, they call her Miss Tauron. O deck suite 527, make sure you do it before his wife and his daughter come back. He and his mother may be evil bastards but his family have no idea exactly what he gets up too." The man said.

"Thank you, now get out." Archangel said.

Archangel took a deep breath and grabbed the man by the head and slit his throat sending blood spraying everywhere. The man looked up at him with wide eyes, shock on his face.

"You're NCO you fraking scum, did you really think I'd let you go after the things you'd done." Archangel said before turning around and walking back into the bathroom.

….

Colonel Rae drew her side arm as the turned into the corridor where they had heard Archangel was.

"Remember we take him alive, no one shoot at all unless I give the order. This is not going to be easy at all, he's well trained and extremely dangerous whether he has a weapon or not." Rae said.

All the marines nodded their heads in reply. As they reached the door there was no sound at all coming from inside. Rae counted to three and one of the marines kicked the door in. As they walked inside they saw the bodies of seven men scattered about the room brutally murdered and Archangel standing by the bar in the corner of the room and smiled and winked at her.

"Colonel." He said to her.

"Major Hunter I hereby place you under arrest for collusion with the NCO and multiple murders including the murder of Karl Michaels." Rae replied, "Sergeant please restrain the Major."

The sergeant looked nervously at Archangel as he stepped forward.

"I'm sorry Archangel." The Sergeant said.

"Not as sorry as I am." Archangel replied as he grabbed the marine by the throat and spun him around to block the other marines and the XO.

"Major don't make this any harder than it already is." Rae said.

"Colonel I need you to give the Commander a message." Archangel replied.

"Come with us and you can tell her yourself." Rae replied her sidearm pointed at the young pilot.

"I'm afraid I can't do that but please when you wake up tell the Commander I'm nearly there."

As Colonel Rae came around it took her a few moments to realise where she was. She sat up and saw that she and the other marines were scattered across the room amongst the other bodies.

"Is everyone alive?" Rae asked.

"Yes ma'am we're all here." The sergeant replied.

What had happened started to come back to her, she had never seen anything like it in her life, before any of them had the chance to defend themselves or even try to fight back Archangel had taken them all down.

"Colonel, why are we all still alive?" the sergeant asked.

"Don't sound so happy about it." Rae replied getting to her feet.

"If he really is NCO and he's been ousted, why wouldn't he kill us?"

"We need to find him." Rae replied.

….

Archangel covered his face with a breath mask as he reached the right quarters. He knocked on the door and waited. The look of shock on Nathan's face when he saw Archangel stood there. Archangel kicked the huge man backwards into the room before throwing in a knockout gas grenade and closing the door. Archangel waited a few moments before walking into the room. Nathan and his mother Adriana were gasping for air as the gas did its job. Archangel walked up to Nathan and kicked him in the face, hard, knocking him out cold. As he turned to Adriana she passed out from the gas. Archangel took out a small device from his pocket pressed a button on is and all the gas from the room was sucked into it. When the gas was gone he took off his mask and smiled down at the two people in front of him.

"Gotcha." He said.

….

As Garrett walked onto the CIC she was met with a call from Colonel Rae.

"What the frak's happened?" Garrett asked down the phone unable to hide the fact she was pissed off.

"We had a tip off as to where Archangel was, when we got there we found him in a room with seven bodies and before we could react he took us all down. Before he did he told me to give you a message."

"Which was?" Garrett asked.

"I'm nearly there, any idea what that means?" Rae asked.

"I have a very good idea what that means."

"May I ask what?" Rae asked.

"No. I want you to go the Pacifica's bridge and see if you can find him on the internal cameras."

"And if we do find him?"

"Call me before you do anything this time." Garrett replied before slamming the phone down. This whole situation was so far out of her control and there was nothing she could do to bring it round. The President had made an address to the fleet to try and settle what Adam Grayson had said but reports were that support for the NCO seemed to be growing. She wasn't happy about how this situation had been handled by her XO, she would have rather known they were going in with guns brandished as she would have stopped it and sent people who might have been able to get through to him.

"Commander the President is on the line for you." Ensign Phillips said gingerly.

"Tell him I'm busy." She replied turning and walking out of CIC.

….

As Nathan started to come around his face hurt, his eyes adjusted to the room and he saw Archangel sat next to him smiling, then he noticed his mother tied to a chair opposite him.

"I'm going to fraking kill you." Nathan yelled.

"Yeah yeah yeah I've been hearing that a lot over the last few days and yet here I am."

"Do you have any idea who we are?" Nathan spat.

"Yes I know exactly who you are, your name is Nathan Katran and that is your mother Adriana Katran also known as Miss Tauron." Archangel replied, "I also know you've been trying to set me up for the murder of a friend of mine but there is plenty more that I need you to tell me."

"You can torture me all you want I'll tell you nothing." Nathan said.

"That's not how this is going to work," Archangel replied, "I know that if I torture you you're not going to talk and no disrespect to you Adriana but you're getting on in years and if I torture you too much and you don't talk soon enough you're probably going to die. So here's the plan, I know your reputation for beating people to death just for giving your mother the wrong type of look so I wonder how long it will take for you to talk when you watch me hurt your mother and vice versa."

"If you hurt my mother I swear you're dead." Nathan said.

"Wouldn't that be something? First I kill your father the week before the Cylons attack and now I kill your mother." Archangel said.

"What? My husband died of heart failure." Adriana said.

"Yeah he did, after I poisoned him." Archangel replied, "So onto business. First things first, lets see how much you love your son." He stood up as he spoke and took out his knife.

"What is the NCO planning to do?" Archangel asked.

Adriana didn't answer. Archangel walked behind Nathan and sliced his right ear off. Nathan screamed in pain and Adriana stood looking at him.

"What is the NCO planning to do?" Archangel asked again.

Adriana looked at her son with an apologetic look on her face as Archangel sliced his other ear off.

"Where should I move next, finger, toes, somewhere more delicate. You know the thing about knives are they're so limited as to what they can do, stab or cut off." Archangel opened his bag and took out a small bottle.

"Anyone want to take a guess what's in here?" he asked. Neither of his captives replied, "Acid. I've used this stuff before and let me tell you it works really well, not many people last long before they spill their guts, sometimes quite literally. So Adriana do you want to answer my question?"

Tears fell down her face and still she said nothing.

"Okay it's your choice." Archangel grabbed Nathan's head and pulled it backwards, he took the bottle before he poured a few drops of the acid directly into Nathan's left eye. As his eye began to sizzle and melt Nathan screamed a bloodcurdling scream.

"Stop, please stop," Adriana said, "We're going to take our people and leave the fleet."

"When is this going to happen and which ships have you taken over?" Archangel asked.

Adriana looked over at her son who was shaking with shock from what had happened to him, "I'm sorry son."

Nathan tried to compose himself but it was hard with the agony he was in.

"Okay before we move onto the next attempt to get you to talk I'll change the question, who is Mr Caprica and where can I find him?" Archangel asked.

Adriana looked up at him and said nothing.

"Okay, whatever happens next, just remember you brought it on yourselves." Archangel reached into his bag and took out a balaclava before he put it on. He got up and walked into the next room and moments later walked in carrying Nathan's daughter and dragging his wife crying her eyes out.

"NO." Nathan managed to scream.

"Don't worry son, he won't hurt them, even people like him have rules." Adriana said.

"Oh my gods Nathan." His wife Carol screamed.

"Sit down." Archangel said, "Here's how this is going to work, now if you tell me what I want to know then I will let Carol and your daughter go free, they haven't seen my face, they're no threat to me. If you don't I'll torture them until you tell me what I want to hear."

"He won't do it." Adriana said sure of what she was saying.

Without saying a word or asking a question he took a pair of pliers grabbed Carol and cut off one of her fingers and threw it onto Adriana's lap.

"You son of a bitch." Nathan yelled.

"WHO IS MR CAPRICA?" Archangel yelled.

Adriana still didn't say a word. Archangel grabbed Carol's hand again but didn't get to the point of cutting off the next finger.

"He's your father." Nathan yelled.

Archangel stopped and let go of Carol, "My father died on Caprica."

"No he didn't." Nathan replied.

"Nathan stop talking." Adriana said.

Archangel took out his gun and shot Adriana between the eyes. Carol screamed and tried to cover her daughter.

"You have one last chance to tell me the truth or the next bullet will be between your daughter's eyes." Archangel said.

"Your father wasn't on Caprica when the Cylons attacked he was on the Starburst. He was corrupt, not the man you thought he was, he had been doing business with my family for nearly 15 years. He started the NCO, he got the Twelve together, he is the one calling the shots I swear to you."

Archangel didn't say anything, he picked up Nathan's daughter and dragged Carol back into the other room before he locked the door. He took off his balaclava and came and sat in front of Nathan.

"Please don't kill my wife and daughter, I beg you." Nathan pleaded as he cried.

"That's all on you, what is the plan?"

"I don't know the exact plans, only my mother and your father knew the exact details. They've been recruiting since before you were picked up on Caprica, the plan is to take as many ships as they can and go their own way."

"Which ships and when?"

"I don't know which ships exactly or when but it is soon."

Despite himself he knew Nathan was telling the truth, he didn't want to believe it but he knew the broken man wasn't lying, he was trying to protect his wife and daughter.

"Where is my father?" Archangel asked.

"As far as I know he is on the Starburst, J deck suite 427. Please let my wife and daughter go."

"I promise." Archangel replied before he raised his gun and killed Nathan.

….

"Colonel," one of the Pacifica's bridge crew shouted, "I think we've just found him."

Rae came over to the console and saw Archangel leaving the quarters.

"Get me a line to Orion." Rae said.

Moments later she heard Garrett on the other end, "Commander we've found him, how do you want me to proceed?" Rae asked.

"Find him Colonel, don't loose him and don't let him get off that ship, if you have too shoot him in the leg." Garrett replied.

….

Bojay and Bria sat in the back of the raptor playing triad.

"This is getting ridiculous." Bojay said throwing his cards down onto the makeshift table they had made.

"Does that mean you fold?" Bria replied.

"Whatever I don't really care any more, I just want to go help find Archangel." He replied standing up, he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Archangel standing at the entry hatch holding one of his guns at his side.

"Hey." Bojay said.

"I don't have much time, I'm sorry to do this but I need to take your raptor." Archangel said.

"What the frak's going on?" Bojay said, "Talk to us, we're your friends we can help you."

"I found out who and where Mr Caprica is and I need to get to him before it's too late."

"Well we'll take you." Bria replied.

"No I need you both to get out." Archangel replied.

"That's not going to happen," Bojay replied, "If you want to go somewhere the only way you're going in this raptor is if we take you."

Archangel looked at his two friends and sighed before putting his gun back into its holster.

"Okay." Archangel said.

"MAJOR," Colonel Rae yelled as she and the marines appeared unseen behind him with their weapons drawn, "Put your hands on top of your head and stand down or I will put you down."

Bria looked at him and knew what he was thinking. He looked at her as she shook her head. He let out a sigh, he knew he was finally beaten. He slowly raised his hands and put them on the back of his head.

"Sergeant restrain the Major."

The sergeant who now had a nasty black eye walked over and cuffed Archangel's arms behind his back.

"Sorry about the eye." Archangel said.

"It's okay, we're on your side." The sergeant replied.

"Colonel I need you to get onto Captain Jonas and tell him that Mr Caprica is on his ship, J deck, suite 427." Archangel said.

"I don't give a frak what you need." She replied.

"Colonel he's there, we have to get him before he runs."

….

Archangel didn't say a word during the whole of the flight back to Orion, he was desperate to find Mr Caprica but he was tired now, it was time for him to face the music for what he had done. As the back hatch opened Rae was the first to step out, the deck was full of pilots, hundreds of them standing in a line with the President and Commander Garrett waiting. Archangel didn't know what to think as he stepped out, as he stepped onto the deck all of the pilots stood to attention and saluted him. Milo couldn't hide the surprise on his face while Garrett had to fight hard to hide a smile.

"Colonel Rae, take Major Hunter to the brig." The Commander said.

"Commander did they find him?" Archangel asked.

She shook her head, "No the quarters were empty." She replied.

….

Bojay smiled when he walked into his bunk and saw Kate waiting for him, she walked over and kissed him.

"Are you okay? She asked.

"We just found Archangel, he's in the brig." Bojay replied.

"The things I've heard he's done, he didn't hurt you did he?" she asked.

"No he's my friend why would he hurt me?" Bojay replied.

"They said he's NCO, he killed all those people." She replied.

"He's not NCO and I don't want to hear about this again." Bojay replied.

"I'm just worried." Kate replied.

"You don't have to be." Bojay replied.

"It seems such a long time ago since you found me on Caprica, that was such an easier time."

"I get the feeling it's only going to get harder from here."

….

The sergeant took off Archangel's cuffs and closed the door of the cell.

"Sergeant leave us." Garrett said.

As the sergeant left the room the President waded in.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Milo said.

"My job." Archangel replied.

"Your job is CAG of this ship not murderer." Milo said, "This is your one chance to explain yourself."

"Firstly despite what you've heard I'm not NCO and I didn't murder Karl Michaels, Paul Mantill did. As I told the Commander a few days ago Michaels came to me before the Cylons arrived he'd been looking for the NCO and the people in charge."

"So why would Michaels risk himself doing that?" Milo asked.

"Because that's what he used to do, he used to find people or make them disappear. He got in touch to tell me that he'd found something and we needed to meet. By the time I got to his home I found him already dead, I found the photographs that are in my bag and as I was about to leave Danny saw me and jumped to the wrong conclusion. I knew the info I had was time sensitive and I knew that I had to deal with it by myself, if they saw a team of marines coming they would have run a mile and we would have never found them."

"And by doing it your way what have we got, a pile of dead bodies and a lead that came to nothing." Milo replied.

"What we have now is information that they're planning on running with ships and people from our fleet and the information that Mr Caprica is my father."

Milo and Garrett looked at each other.

"You both knew," Archangel said, "How long have you both known?"

"Adam Grayson told me." Garrett replied.

"And the reason why you didn't tell me?" Archangel asked.

"Because we knew you'd rip the fleet apart looking for him." Milo replied.

"And look where not telling me got you, I did that anyway." Archangel said.

"What we did or didn't tell you doesn't matter you murdered over twenty people over the last few days." Milo said.

"I did my job, I did what I was trained to do by the admiralty and the government."

"An admiralty and government who no longer exist." Milo said.

"Maybe not but the there is still a need for the job I've been trained to do. For you to keep order you need me."

"Not to commit brutal acts like this." Milo said.

"As a man, as a President and as a soldier I respect you I really do, I think you're the right person to lead this fleet but do you want to know the big difference between you and Adar?"

"Please enlighten me?" Milo replied.

"He knew his place." Archangel replied.

"Excuse me?" Milo said.

"Before the attack I took my orders from Admiral Negala, he was the only person I took orders from and Adar knew and respected that, now the only person I take my orders from is Commander Garrett. I don't care what you think of me or about what I've done. Do you know why you're president? Because she lets you," Archangel said pointing to Garrett, "Without us you and your government are nothing, you're in power and allowed to stay in power because the Commander understands the people need a civilian government and not martial law. I'm not who you think I am, I'm not a good guy, I'm a very bad guy, I am become death and no matter what you think or how appalled you are you need me to be those things. I've done things you can't even dream of and I've done things you could never ever understand and I do them all for the right reasons. But it's my definition of what's right and who is there to say I'm wrong? I can't settle down and live in what you call the real world, I can't, not ever because I know what waits in the dark. But the fact remains that you need me, you don't have to like me, you don't even have to want me but you will always need me. It takes a bad man like me doing what I do to keep your world happy. I make the decisions that your morals can't accept, I keep you alive and you want me to stop? I have no compassion for these people, I have no mercy and if the soul is real I doubt very much that I have one of those either. So the choice is yours, make the decision to kill me, go on, I dare you to be me for a minute," no one spoke, "You can't, I didn't think so."

"What about the innocent people who get caught in your cross fire?" Milo asked.

"Do you remember Stephenson Jones?" Archangel asked.

"The Picon bomber?" Garrett asked.

"The very same. Do you remember the fear that people had while he was alive? People were scared to leave their homes, scared to go into crowded places and they were right to be scared, he was an evil man. Do you remember the relief when he was killed?"

Milo nodded his head.

"Do you remember that despite the fact his wife and daughter, two innocents were killed as well people still rejoiced, they still thank the gods that he was dead and they were safe again."

"Yes." Milo said.

"Well here's the shocker, I killed them."

"You killed innocent people?" Milo asked.

Archangel nodded, "Without a seconds thought, because he needed to be stopped and the only time we knew he would be out in public he was with his family. What no one knows is he was planning to set off a nuke in the capital. We knew that and we knew that he didn't show his face very often. When I was sent to kill him we didn't know they would be with him but they were and despite that I still had to do what I had to do."

"How can you justify the deaths of those two people?" Milo asked.

"Because if I hadn't blown up that car when I did, if I hadn't made that choice millions of people would have died. What are two lives lost when it means they save millions? That's the kind of choice I make so you can live in your world, the choices you can't make. So you can feel free to stand on your moral high ground, you can look down at me and point your finger but ask yourself, could you have killed those two people to save millions?"

"What if it was Carrie or Skeeter in the firing line?" Milo asked.

"I love my sister and I love my best friend but you can't step back over the line for double standards." Archangel replied, "I'm done justifying myself to you. There are less of the NCO and we have more of an idea what they are planning so what I did, the lives I've taken were worth it."

Milo looked at the Commander before he spoke, "I appreciate what you've done and why you did it but it is still wrong, a crime is a crime and you will stand trial for it."

"Just so you know if I'm put on a stand at a public trial I will have to speak the whole truth and I know a lot of things, enough information to destroy this fleet."

"Are you threatening me?" Milo asked.

"No sir I am not, just letting you know that under oath, you have to tell the truth." Archangel replied.

"Enough," Garrett said, "There will be no trial, Archangel will go back to work and will keep doing what he does best."

"I'm sorry Commander but that's not your choice." Milo replied.

"Major Hunter is my soldier and my responsibility. He was following my orders."

Milo looked and felt surprised.

"I knew what was happening, we had decided that the fewer people who knew the better, this is over. Archangel is right, we now have information that we didn't have before and now is the time to tighten the noose and catch these bastards," Garrett opened the cell, "Get back to work Major." She said.

Archangel walked out of the cell and straight out of the brig.

"Are you fraking kidding me?" Milo yelled.

"He's right, no matter what you say or think on this matter he is right, we can't do this without him."

"He is not judge, jury and executioner." Milo said.

"Yes Mr President in this instance, he is. Please excuse me I have work to do." Garrett said before turning and walking away. As she walked she was shaking with adrenaline and hoped she hadn't pushed Milo too far.

….

Mr Caprica's new quarters aboard the Phoenix Flame were nothing like he was used too but he understood why they were necessary.

"They've arrested your son." 1 said sitting in front of him.

"What about Adriana and Nathan?" Caprica asked.

"Dead, he tortured them for information before killing them. I believe that your son now knows who you are." 1 said.

"He was always going to find out sooner or later, I'm just going to have to keep a low profile until we're ready."

"All our ships have reported in. I've contacted our agents aboard the other ships and they are starting their missions."

"What about the nuke?"

"That has to be done last, if they are alerted to it too early it could cause us some problems."

"Fair enough," Mr Caprica replied smiling, "Activate the new agent aboard Orion, it's time to kill the Commander."

….

Carrie walked into her brothers quarters.

"Hey." He said smiling.

"Hey," she replied, "We need to talk."

"Yes we do. Please sit, do you want a drink?"

Carrie shook her head, "No I just need to know why?"

"After all I've done you're going to have to be more specific than that."

"Why didn't you tell me about who you are?"

Archangel sat on the end of his bed facing his sister, this was going to be the hardest conversation he had, "Because I wanted you to get to know me first, know the man I really am before." He paused.

"Before what?"

"Before you hated me."

"Did you really kill all those people?"

"All of them except Karl Michaels, he was my friend and a good man, a far better man than me." Archangel replied.

"Why do you do this? What made you into a killer?"

"I had been on the Atlantia for a year and things were going really well, I was seeing one of the other pilots, we had been together since flight school. We had shore leave together. I had arranged to meet her in a bar and I got held up. When I got there I couldn't find her, I went looking for her and I found eight men attacking her, it was brutal, to this day I still don't understand how people can do that," He paused for a moment remembering the horror of what he had seen all those years ago, "Anyway I didn't even think about what I was doing, before I realised two men lay dead at my feet. It was as though it wasn't me, like I was watching it through someone else's eyes. I remember the rage, it took over me and within minutes two more men were dead and the others were lying on the ground not moving or screaming in pain. When I got to Jen she was alive but they had messed her up badly. Anyway Admiral Negala saw the security camera footage of what I had done and he recruited me for black ops. It turns out I have several qualities that make me the perfect hunter and killer, I accepted and I never looked back. For over five years I've killed people for the Admiralty, the worst of the worst, people who did and were planning the most horrific things and I killed them all because I knew it was right, because I wanted too and I did it all with a song in my heart."

"What happened to the pilot?"

This was the first time she had seen her brother look upset for a moment, "She couldn't handle what had been done to her no matter what we tried to do to help. She killed herself a few months later. It fuelled me in what I was doing, it helped me to see that what I was doing was right. I couldn't let anyone else go through that kind of pain, I did what I had to do and I understand if you want me to stay out of your life."

"I don't want that. I don't think I could do what you do. I don't think I have it in me. I don't know what it takes to do those things or be capable of doing them but I think I get why you do it. You're just trying to make the world a safer place."

"You don't have to make excuses for me." Archangel said wiping away a tear from his face.

Carrie got up and sat next to her brother, putting his arm around her, "I'm not."

Archangel put his arm around her and kissed her on the forehead, "Thank you. There's something else I need to tell you."

"What?" Carrie asked.

"I found out our father is still alive?"

"He can't be, he was on Caprica the day of the attack."

"Apparently he wasn't. One of the people I questioned told me, he said that Dad wasn't the man I thought he was and never had been. Apparently he was corrupt and had been doing business with crime families for years. I was told that he started the NCO."

"Whoever it was they were lying, that's not true." Carrie said.

"Trust me they weren't lying. It was true all of it."

"But I worked at his company, I saw the things he did, the good things. I spent time with him nearly every day."

"Well it turns out he is one hell of a liar and knew how to cover his tracks well."

"What are you going to do if you find him?" Carrie asked.

"Throw him in a cell, he will answer for what he's done."

"Carrie Spence please contact CIC." Ensign Phillips voice came over the COM.

"You okay?" she asked.

Archangel nodded his head. Carrie stood up and walked over to the phone on the wall and picked it up.

"CIC this is Carrie Spence."

Archangel watched as his sister spoke to someone on the other end of the line. He was relieved that she had taken everything so well. He had worried that as soon as she knew the truth she would turn against him and not want to be part of his life any more.

"Everything okay?" Archangel asked as she put the phone down.

She nodded her head and smiled, "Yeah everything's fine, I have to go find the President, I think he's on the CIC."

"Do you want me to come with you?" he asked.

She shook her head, "No you get some rest, I'll see you soon enough. Remember we all have to do something we don't want to at some point for the greater good, we just have to hope that everyone understands why we do what we do."

"Thank you for understanding." He said.

"What are sisters for." She replied with a smile.

….

"Colonel I need to speak with you." Garrett said as she walked onto CIC.

"Of course Commander." Rae replied.

"I'm sorry that I snapped at you earlier and that I've been a class A bitch."

"There's nothing to apologise for, you're the CO you're allowed to be however you want."

"Still I've been under a lot of stress the same as you have and I just let it all out on you. You're my XO but more importantly you're my friend. Are we okay?"

Rae smiled and nodded, "We're absolutely fine. So what about Archangel, is it true he was following your orders?"

Garrett decided she was too far into the lie to back out now and nodded her head, "Yeah, other than Michaels I was the only other person who knew what was going on. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you before, Archangel needed to be able to do what he does without anyone knowing where he was."

"I understand, we suspected a traitor onboard, you had to keep your cards close to your chest."

"I just wish the President saw it that way. I think for a start I just ruined our friendship and I doubt he's going to be a trusting towards me as he used to be."

"Don't worry about what he thinks, he's here to baby sit the civilians, what happens aboard this ship is our business." Rae replied with a smile.

Carrie hurried through the corridors of Orion as she headed to CIC. She saw Bojay's girlfriend Kate heading the same way.

"Hey." Kate said smiling.

"Hey." Carrie replied, "How are you?"

"Good just heading to the CIC to see if Bojay's there."

"I'm heading the same way to try and find the President."

"So how are things with you and Wedge?" Kate asked.

"Good," Carrie replied smiling, "Looks like we both bagged ourselves a pilot."

"We sure did." Kate replied.

As the both walked into CIC the Commander smiled as she saw them both.

"Hey what can I do for you?" she asked.

"Commander have you seen the President?" Carrie asked.

"Not for a while. Do you want me to put out a call for him?" Garrett replied.

"No it's okay, I'll find him." Carrie replied.

"What about you Kate are you okay?" Garrett asked.

Kate didn't reply, she just stood looking at the Commander. Garrett wondered what was going on, other people had also noticed her standing there just looking at the Commander.

"Kate are you okay?" Carrie asked.

Kate nodded her head, "Galen Hunter says hello."

As she finished speaking she took a small handgun out of her pocket and raised it at the Commander before pulling the trigger. The Commander stood rooted to the spot but the Colonel reacted stepping in front of Garrett at the last second. The bullet hit the Colonel in the forehead killing her instantly and spraying blood across the Commander's face who stood in shock. As two marines from outside the CIC ran inside Kate went to fire off another round, Carrie knocked her over sending the bullet into the upper level of the CIC hitting a crew member in the shoulder. Kate looked up and smiled.

"Long live the NCO." She said before putting the gun to the side of her head and pulling the trigger.

The Commander slumped to her knees looking down at her friend dead in front of her. The CIC was in panic. As Ensign Phillips made the call to sickbay Carrie rushed over to the Commander.

"Vanessa are you okay?" Carrie asked.

Garrett didn't reply she just continued to look down at her friend in utter shock.

"Vanessa are you okay?" Carrie asked again, still with no response.

"I'm sorry about this." Carrie said before slapping the Commander hard across the cheek causing her to snap out of her trance.

"Vanessa are you okay?"

Garrett nodded her head, "Yes." She said. She looked down at her friend and stroked her hair before wiping tears away from her face. She stood up, all eyes on the CIC were on her.

"Ensign Phillips." Garrett said in a quiet voice.

"Yes ma'am." He replied shaken.

"Get me Archangel and Bojay."

"Of course ma'am."

"It's time we ended the NCO once and for all."


	23. Rapture

Simon Given walked down the winding corridors of the Battlestar Orion. He felt nervous. He had waited for this moment for so long and now it was here, he was finally going to have some form of revenge. He knew it would most likely be the last thing he ever did but he didn't care anymore. He had spent time with his best friend Kal the day before and felt at peace with what he was going to do. If Kal had any kind of idea what Simon had signed up for he would have talked him out of it. Part of him wanted to witness what was going to happen in the coming days, the NCO were about to put there plan into action and take the people to their new home, a home he would never see. He missed his old life on Delta Seven, life was simple back then, he had a job that he was good at and friends that he enjoyed being around. Then Kelly came into his life, now he knew she had been a Cylon but he didn't care, she had wanted to be with him, she must have as being with him gave her no advantage, no knowledge or information that she would have been able to use against the humans. He missed her so much. He had been so full of hate and anger since she had been taken from him, taken by another Cylon who now lived on this ship as a member of the crew, it made him sick. His right hand gripped a knife in his pocket, the means by which he would have his revenge. As he walked into the memorial corridor he saw his target looking at a photograph of a lost friend. Simon took a deep breath and walked towards the man he was going to kill.

"Major Hunter." He said.

Archangel turned and looked at the young man approaching him.

"How can I help you specialist?" he replied with a smile.

"I have a message for you, your father says hello." He pulled the knife from his pocket and swung it at Archangel who dodges out of the way at the last second, the knife grazing his arm.

"I'm going to give you one chance to drop that knife." Archangel said.

"I gladly do this. Why do you get your Cylon while mine had to die? I'm going to make her feel the pain that she made me feel by killing you." Simon shouted.

He dived at Archangel slashing the knife wildly. Archangel grabbed the young man's hand and smashed it over his knee, breaking his wrist and making him drop the knife. Simon grimaced with pain but stayed on his feet. He started to back away. As Carrie walked into the corridor the first she knew something was wrong was when Simon grabbed her by the neck with his one remaining good arm.

"Maybe killing your sister will work just as well." Simon said with a smile.

Carrie elbowed Simon in the stomach as hard as she could winding the young man and making him loose his grip on her. As Simon looked up at the young woman she hit him in the face as hard as she could knocking him out cold.

"Are you okay?" Archangel asked coming over to her.

"I'm fine, are you?" she asked seeing the cut on his arm.

"I'm fine it's just a scratch."

"Why was he trying to kill you?" Carrie asked.

"Dad sent him." Archangel replied.

….

Bojay took a deep breath as he walked onto the CIC, this felt so strange, he didn't know if he was ever going to get used to it.

"XO ON DECK." One of the crewmen shouted.

Bojay watched as all the crew stood to attention.

"Please sit, you don't have to do that every time I walk on deck, in fact I'd prefer it if you didn't." Bojay said as they all sat down.

"Good morning Colonel." Garrett said with a smile.

"Good morning Commander," Bojay replied, "Any news on the searches?"

"No nothing yet, wherever he's hiding he's dug himself in well."

"Archangel is chomping at the bit to be let out into the fleet to find his father." Bojay replied.

"How are you doing?" Garrett asked.

"Me I'm fine why wouldn't I be?" Bojay replied with one of his trademark smiles.

"Maybe because the woman you were seeing shot Colonel Rae not far from where you're standing and I don't think you hear me when I tell you it wasn't your fault." Garrett replied.

"I brought her onboard. I gave her access to the people on this ship, it is my fault."

As Garrett opened her mouth to speak Ensign Phillips spoke first.

"Commander sickbay has just informed me that Major Hunter has just been attacked by someone trying to kill him. They're stitching him up now."

"And the attacker?" Garrett asked.

"In sickbay as well having his injuries seen too before they transfer him to the brig."

"Wow Archangel actually left one of them alive." Garrett said.

"He must be slipping." Bojay replied with a smile as they both walked off the deck.

….

"Are you going to sit still?" Grace asked as she stitched up the cut on Archangel's arm, "You're worse than a child."

Archangel smiled before kissing her, "But you love me anyway."

Moments later Garrett and Bojay walked in.

"Are you okay?" Garrett asked.

"Yeah I'm fine. Good morning Colonel." Archangel said.

Bojay gave him a nervous smile.

"So who do we have here?" Garrett asked.

"Simon Given," Dr Hammond replied holding a data pad in her hands, "He was one of the crew we picked up from the Delta Seven mining base."

"What happened?" Bojay asked.

"He told me that my father had sent him to kill me." Archangel didn't intend on telling Grace what he had said about the Cylon she had killed, "I disarmed him and broke his wrist. Carrie appeared not knowing what was going on and he grabbed her and threatened to kill her instead. She winded him and knocked him out. He's been out cold ever since."

"Bojay can you get all the former Delta Seven crew over here ASAP, I want to talk to them all." Garrett said.

"Yes ma'am." Bojay replied before walking away.

"Is your sister okay?" Garrett asked.

"Yeah she's fine, she kicked his ass real good, I can't help but say that I'm a little proud of her." Archangel said with a smile.

"Sergeant of the guard as soon as Dr Hammond has finished with him take Mr Given to the brig and tell me as soon as he comes round." Garrett ordered.

"Yes ma'am." The burley sergeant replied.

"Walk with me." Garrett said to Archangel.

"See you later." Grace said.

"I'll come see you if I get time to get any lunch." Archangel replied.

"Vannick and his squad have finished their sweeps through the Angel Star, everyone seems to be who they say they are and there is no sign of your father." Garrett said.

"Frak, I don't understand how he is being able to hide so well."

"It seems to me that he has a lot of people helping him, I fear that every time we get close he runs for it."

"I knew this would happen with a wide scale search." Archangel said.

"Trust me if I could let you run riot I would but relations with the President are frosty at best at the moment."

"Do you want me to talk to him? Is he still aboard?"

"Yeah he's here but he doesn't want to speak to either of us at the moment. We blindsided him and as Bojay so eloquently put it, we pissed on his corn flakes."

"I feel bad for some of the things I said to him but to be honest I think he needed to hear them as well. He'll come around."

"I hope so."

"What about you? How are you with all of this?"

"The last few months have been testing to say the least. I fear there are worse to come, I need to be around people though because when I'm alone at the moment I can't stop thinking about Mae. She stood in front of a bullet for me. I know people say oh I'd take a bullet for you but she really did."

"We may have had our differences in the past but she was a good XO. I knew how to press all her buttons to get a reaction but sometimes when I'd try to piss her off she'd give me this smile when she thought I wasn't looking. She knew I wasn't being mean but I think she liked the fact that I had the balls to do that to her."

"You and Bojay," Garrett replied, "She used to tell me she could see it coming with you some of the time but there were times with Bojay when he'd make some little comment to her out of the blue and she had to leave the room as she didn't want the crew to see her laughing. You know I don't know if I told you but I was grateful for what you did and what you were prepared to do for the safety of this fleet."

"It's my job."

"Still you went above and beyond with what you did, no matter what the President says."

"Thank you." Archangel replied giving her a smile.

"So have you chosen your new XO?" Garrett asked.

"Yes I have, I gave Wedge the good news this morning, I also decided to give Hydra lead raptor pilot and bumped Bria up to first seat."

"Who did you give her as an ECO?"

"Dumbass." Archangel replied.

Garrett laughed, "I still can't believe Jawbreaker gave that poor kid a call sign that bad."

"Well in Jawbreakers defence he did give the kid a much better call sign but he was whining about how he didn't like it. He was told it could always be changed for something worse but he didn't listen." Archangel said with a laugh.

Garrett laughed again.

"It's nice to hear you laugh, it's been far too long since I last heard it." Archangel said.

"I feel like it was before Commander Johannsen died."

"You know if you need to talk I'm here for you."

"I know and thank you."

….

As Hydra walked into the pilots briefing room she was surprised to see all her old crew from Delta Seven waiting for her. Kal smiled when he saw her and the giant man stood up and hugged her.

"It's so good to see you." She said.

"You too." He replied.

Moments later the Commander and Bojay walked into the room.

"Thank you all for coming so quickly." Garrett said.

"Ma'am Simon Given isn't here yet." Hydra replied.

"I know that Captain and he won't be joining us either." Garrett replied.

"Is he okay?" Kal asked fearing the worst.

"He's currently sat in the brig. About an hour ago he tried to murder Major Hunter and his sister."

"What?" Hydra asked, "Why would he do that?"

"He wouldn't." Kal replied.

"Well the fact remains he did and we have security footage of him doing it. He claims to have been sent by Mr Caprica and that he is NCO."

"Oh gods damn it." Kal said.

"You're not surprised that he's NCO?" Bojay asked.

"Honestly no I'm not," Kal replied, "Since the Cylon he was fraking got killed he was in a downward spiral, he used to say he was going to make someone pay for what happened."

"And this didn't worry you?" Garrett asked.

"Have you seen him?" Kal asked, "He'd have trouble breaking dry pasta, let alone killing someone. It's that fraking Cavill, that's who got him involved in all this."

"Cavill?" Garrett asked.

"Yeah one of the survivors we picked up, he always gave me the creeps." Hydra said.

"He tried filling our heads with the fact that you were all bad guys. Saying the only way you could have survived is if you were in league with the Cylons. He tried to get us all to join the NCO." Kal said.

Bojay turned on one of the computer panels on the wall and called up a photograph, "Is this the man?" he asked.

"Yeah that's him." Kal replied.

"Frak me." Bojay said.

"What?" Hydra replied.

"He's a Cylon." Bojay replied.

"He can't be." Hydra said.

"Tell that to Archangel and all the other people who were with him on Sagittaron and Caprica." Bojay said.

"Okay I need to ask you all a question and this is the time you want to answer it truthfully, it's the only time I'll be lenient," Garrett said, "Which of you are NCO?"

"I'm not." Kal said.

"Me either." Added Dash.

"I told him where to go." Jason said.

All eyes turned to Hydra, "I'm not NCO," she paused, "Anymore."

"When were you NCO?" Garrett asked.

"Firstly I was in a bad place when you picked us up. I'd just moped up the brains of one of the closest friends I'd ever had and I was feeling weak. When Cavill came to me I said yes." Hydra said.

"What did you do for them?" Garrett asked.

"Do you remember the leaflets that came out the first time you heard of the NCO?"

"Yes." Garrett replied.

"I did one leaflet drop on this ship. I severed all ties with them after the incident on the planet. I knew something wasn't right before that, but with what happened and with Scud as well, I didn't want anything else to do with them." Hydra said.

"You were the one having a relationship with Scud?" Bojay said.

Hydra nodded her head, "Yes I was and when they took him from me I was so angry all over again." She began to cry as she talked, "He was such a good man."

"Why didn't you say anything before now?" Garrett asked.

"Are you kidding me? Anyone who admitted to having had anything to do with the NCO after what they've done to this fleet would have woken up floating through space without their suit on."

"Do you have any way of contacting Cavill?" Garrett asked.

Hydra shook her head, "No but I'm sure I could find him if I needed too."

"I do." Jason said. All eyes turned to him, "I can get in touch with him."

….

Mr Caprica was starting to get cabin fever, but he knew that he didn't have long to wait now. He looked out of the window in his small temporary quarters and looked at the Battlestar Orion. All the other ships with the exception of the Starburst looked so small in comparison. He wondered what his son and his daughter were doing aboard right at that moment. He knew Orion was making it's way through all the ships of the fleet trying to flush him out, so far he had managed to avoid them. A space between the walls of his quarters had been ample hiding place when Orion's marines had come knocking. They had been literally less than a foot away from him and still didn't find him. Regular updates were being ferried to him from his men as the progress of the preparation of the fleet was coming together. He knew that in two days at the most he wouldn't have to hide any more, he would be leaving with "his" fleet. He turned as John Cavill walked into his quarters.

"Any news?" Mr Caprica asked.

John nodded and smiled, "We have only five ships left to call in and then we're just waiting on Orion."

"Excellent." He replied.

"There has been one interesting development though. Adam Grayson's assistant caught him trying to get a message to Commander Garrett, it would appear that he's been working against us all this time."

"Son of a bitch, where is he?"

"In his quarters under guard."

"This may be useful."

"How so?" John asked.

"They want to find me right? So why don't I turn up dead? That should keep them distracted and away from us for the last few hours that we need."

"But they know what Adam Grayson looks like."

"So we make sure they don't recognise him, make sure that any tests they make to identify the body will take them a while."

"How do you want to go about doing this?" John asked.

"We need to do it so it's seen by Orion. We lead them to me, make sure they see me enter an area and then see an explosion."

"Are you sure you want to risk bringing them here?"

Mr Caprica nodded, "Now we just need to lure them here."

"What about his daughter?" John asked.

"We take her with us when we leave."

….

The President stood with Commander Garrett outside the pilots briefing room.

"Before we go in there we need to talk." Garrett said.

"That depends on what you have to say." Milo replied.

"I stand by Archangel. I believe we need him to survive and nothing is going to change that no matter what. I know we differ on our opinions on that. But I do not want there to be any bad blood between us. We are the leaders of this fleet and we need to show a united front."

Milo smiled, "We don't agree but the more I've been thinking about it the more I realise we do need him. We're okay Commander, now lets do this. After you." He said opening the door for her. Garrett smiled before walking into the room. The Delta Seven crew along with Bojay and Archangel were waiting.

"Mr President, Commander." Archangel said.

"Major, good to see you." Milo replied.

"Okay let's cut to the chase," Garrett said, "How do you get in touch with him?"

Jason cleared his throat, "I have a number to phone, I've never used it though."

"Is it a direct number?" Milo asked.

"As far as I'm aware." Jason said.

"I don't mean to be the one to ruin the party but do you not think this may look a little suspect?" Archangel said.

"How so Major?" Milo asked.

"Jason doesn't use this number at all until now after all that's happened. They're going to piece it together and realise that it's us behind it." Archangel replied.

"He has a point." Bojay added.

"Here's what we know, they've got some master plan and they're about to implement it. We've been searching the fleet and still we can't find him or anyone else that can point us to the NCO. We have no idea where they are, they always seem to be one step ahead of us. I think you're right Archangel but I think we have to try this." Garrett said.

"What do you want me to say to him?" Jason asked.

"What do you do in the fleet?" Archangel asked.

"I work in the hanger bay of the Starburst." Jason replied.

"Tell him you're disillusioned with your job, you're wanting more from your life in the fleet and you're a supporter of the NCO. Tell him that you've been thinking about it for a while and you've made your mind up. Try and get him to meet you somewhere the more public the better, if he or anyone else turns up we show our faces and take them into custody." Archangel said.

"If this all works I don't want any more deaths." Milo said.

"Understood." Archangel replied knowing that comment was aimed at him.

"When do you want me to make the call?" Jason asked.

"Straight away." Garrett replied, "You can do it from here, we can have the call redirected so it looks like it's coming from the Starburst in case they try to trace it."

Bojay pointed to one of the handsets hanging on the wall. Jason took a deep breath before walking up to the phone and typing in the number. There was absolute silence while he was waiting to be connected. He hoped how nervous he felt wouldn't be heard in his voice.

"Hello John?" Jason said.

"Who is this?" John's voice came over the loud speaker so everyone in the room could hear him.

"It's Jason from Delta Seven." He replied.

"Jason yes it is John, I haven't heard from you in quite some time, how can I help you?"

"I was hoping I could meet up with you, if you have the time?"

"I'm very busy at the moment Jason, I have some very busy days coming up. Is it anything we can talk about over the phone?"

"You told me that if I ever wanted to join the N.."

John cut him off before he could finish what he was saying, "Jason my boy that's not something we should discuss on the phone. Can you come to the Phoenix Flame and meet me in cabin 38 on H deck in shall we say three hours?"

"Of course, yes I can." Jason replied.

"Then I'll see you in three hours." John said.

"I'll look forward to it."

As Jason put the phone down, "Was that convincing enough?"

"We'll find out in three hours." Garrett replied.

"Colonel Johnson, Archangel get a team together." Garrett said.

"Yes ma'am." They said in unison.

As John put the phone down he knew this was going to be a set up, but he also knew this could work to their advantage. He really hoped that this plan Galen Hunter had been putting together for all this time was going to work. Not just because his very existence hung in the balance but also because he had actually come to enjoy the company of the man he had been working with all this time. He was beginning to think they would be able to make a go of it once they were safely away. That was until at least Cylons found them, either way he had a comfortable life. As he walked back into Galen's cabin he had a smile on his face.

"I've just had a very interesting call." John said, "It would appear that one of the old Delta Seven crew wants to meet up with me to discuss joining the NCO."

"We can always use another member." Galen replied.

"I haven't spoken to him in a very long time and then just after we send his friend to try and kill your son he calls. I do believe we're being set up."

"Of course, have you said you'll meet with him?" Galen asked.

John nodded, "In the very same quarters Adam Grayson is currently sitting in. Should I start having the room rigged with explosives?"

"Yes, this is the perfect opportunity to give them a body." Galen smiled, "If this final phase works we'll be kings of our own fleet in a matter of days."

"And not a moment too soon." John replied.

….

Kal finally managed to catch up with the Commander.

"Commander Garrett may I have a word please?" the giant man asked.

"Of course." She replied with a smile.

"I would like to ask your permission to talk to Simon." Kal asked.

"I'm not sure that's the best idea, he's not saying a word to anyone." Garrett replied.

"He'll talk to me," Kal said, "We've been good friends for a long time now, he tells me everything. If I can find out what he's been doing then maybe it can help you and I can start to understand where his head is if you know what I mean."

"Can I ask you, would you ever expect him to do something like this?" Garrett asked.

"Before Kelly died no. He was a gentle man. That's one of the reasons we get on so well, he's like a little brother to me, someone who I need to looks out for. Please Commander, you have my word I'll tell you everything he says to me."

"Okay." She replied.

"Thank you."

….

Simon Given lay on his cot in his cell in the brig. The painkillers the doctor had given her had worked well on his arm. This was not where he expected to be after he attacked Archangel. He thought he would be dead. He looked up as the door opened and Kal walked in.

"Go away." Simon said.

"Not until you talk to me. What the frak happened?" Kal asked.

"I think you know, I tried to kill someone and I fraked it up good and proper." Simon replied.

"I know you've been depressed but why go to these lengths?"

"Because I wanted someone else to feel as bad as I did, the NCO offered me that chance so I took it."

"You should have come and talked to me. I thought we were friends."

"We are friends, you're the best friend I've ever had and that's why I couldn't tell you. Anyway you should be grateful that they didn't let me do what I actually wanted to do."

"Which was what exactly?" Kal asked.

"Walk on Orion's CIC with a bomb attached to me and kill them all."

"I'm sorry I let you down." Kal said.

"How the frak did you let me down? Please enlighten me?"

"I should have been there for you more, I should have listened to my gut which told me things still weren't right with you, no matter what you told me."

"The fact remains I'm not the same person you knew on Delta Seven, I'm a frak up who doesn't care whether or not he lives or dies."

"Don't say that."

"Why not? It's true."

"No it's not. You're someone who is in pain."

"So how about you get to the point of why you're here?" Simon asked coldly.

"I need you to tell me about the NCO, who did you get your orders from? Where did you meet with them? That kind of thing."

"Do me a favour Kal, walk out of that door and don't come back."

"You need to tell me because the next person who asks won't be as polite."

"Like I've already told you I don't care what happens to me anymore, I have nothing left to offer the world and I'm sick of waiting for some kind of justice that will never happen. Please if you really are my friend, leave me alone."

Kal stood up, "If you change your mind and want to talk I'll come back whenever you need. You may have given up but I'm not giving up on you."

….

Adam Grayson sat in silence as he waited for the execution he expected would be coming. The armed guard sat with him hadn't said a word to him. Someone else had been in a short time before for less than thirty seconds and left a bag behind, inside he assumed would be the tools of his death. He didn't fear his own death, just what they may do to his daughter now they knew what he had been doing. The door opened and Galen Hunter walked in followed by John.

"Well haven't you been a busy boy? Who would have known you had it in you to be a double agent." Galen said.

"What you're doing is wrong." Adam replied.

"Delivering people to a promised home is wrong?" Galen asked.

"You're doing this to boost your ego. You want power since the Cylons took what you had away from you when they attacked. That's all this is."

Galen smiled, "So that's why you betrayed us?"

"The things you've done are wrong, the way you treat people is wrong and you know that. I know who you are, I know who you were before they attacked. The people of this fleet may have thought you were a titan of industry and a great humanitarian but if they knew the truth it wouldn't just be the military hunting you down."

"So what if I want some power? Some respect? I fraking earned it," Galen replied, "I created thousands of jobs across the colonies, gave billions away to help people. For fraks sake nearly 2/3rds of this fleet was bought and paid for with MY money so yeah I deserve some fraking power."

"You should have just run in the elections to become President the people would have probably voted you in because of your public persona. Oh wait no you couldn't because if you did they your son the trained killer would have found out that you left his mother and his brother behind on Caprica to die."

Galen backhanded Adam as hard as he could across the face.

"How dare you speak of my wife and son like that, you haven't got a clue what happened." Galen snarled.

"Really? Because I was under the impression that you turned tail and ran for a shuttle when you could have gone back to get them and as it turns out have enough time to still get safely off planet. I wonder what your son will do when he finds out?"

"Well he's never going to because by this time tomorrow we'll be gone to out new home and you'll be dead." Galen replied.

"He won't stop till he's found you."

"Well as far as my son is concerned by the time we jump away he'll think I am dead. If and when he finds out otherwise we'll be long gone and they won't have a chance in hell of finding us."

"I wouldn't be too sure of that." Adam said.

"I would." Galen replied standing up and walking towards the door. He stopped and turned, "Just so you know your daughter, she'll be coming with us, why make her pay for your treachery?" Galen laughed as he left the room.

"See you in hell." Adam said.

….

"Once we've landed we're going to have to move fast," Archangel said, "If they catch wind we're onto them they'll be gone again before we can do anything about it, that is of course if they're there at all. I'm going to take a squad of eight marines led by Sergeant Vannick and we are going to capture any NCO we find and bring them back to Orion for interrogation."

"If they're waiting for us or if we catch them by surprise we expect heavy resistance." Bojay said.

"So you're expecting a fire fight?" Milo asked.

"We expect they won't give up without a fight." Bojay replied.

"Do you have any non lethal ordinance?" Milo asked.

"Yeah leg shots." Archangel replied.

"Very funny Major, I'm serious, rubber bullets or something?" Milo said.

Garrett saw that Archangel was about to speak and judging by the look on his face it would probably be something he would regret.

"Mike Campbell has actually come up with some new rounds for us at my request," Garrett said, "When someone is hit with them it pierces the skin and sends a knock out charge incapacitating them."

"What if someone were to shoot to close to the heart and the target was shocked there?" Bojay asked.

"That's why there is no such thing as non lethal ordinance, anything can kill, even the force from a blank firing pistol if you press it up against someone's forehead or temple." Archangel replied.

"Sounds like you're speaking from experience." Milo said.

"I've killed people with much less than a blank firing pistol." Archangel replied with a sarcastic grin.

"Gentlemen please can we concentrate on the task at hand." Garrett said.

"Yes Commander." Archangel replied.

"Okay I want all rifles to be loaded with the new rounds and give all the marines instructions to try not to make head or chest shots." Garrett said.

"Yes ma'am."

"I also want you to have head cameras so we can see what's going on." Garrett said.

"No problem." Archangel replied.

….

The hanger deck was busy as usual. Archangel met with Vannick and the other marines who were ready to go.

"Everything ready?" Archangel asked.

"Sure is," Vannick replied, "We've got an addition to the team as well."

Vannick stepped aside to reveal Skeeter standing dressed in marine garb.

"What's going on?" Archangel asked.

Skeeter sighed, "The President insisted I join the team, apparently he wants someone else watching your back."

"I've already got plenty of people to watch my back." Archangel replied.

"Don't worry about me, I've fought centurions, I can take on some humans." Skeeter replied with a smile before getting onto the shuttle.

As the marines got aboard Hydra and Bria arrived.

"Ready to get going?" Hydra asked.

"We sure are." Archangel replied getting onboard himself.

As the two raptor pilots headed to the cockpit Archangel joined the rest of the marines and Skeeter in the passenger area.

"Okay here's the plan, as soon as we touch down we activate our scramblers that way any cameras or NCO with walkies won't be able to see us or warn anyone else we're coming. The bridge crew don't know were coming. Quite rightly so the Commander is worried about who on board is on our side. Chances are we will run into ships security, those who are on our side will back down. We're all using the new non lethal rounds, I'm instructed to tell you not to make head or chest shots as they can kill," None of the marines looked impressed by this, "Your side arms should be loaded with the real deal though, should you need to use them use them, I'll take any fall out. You all know what Mr Caprica looks like, under no circumstances is he to be killed. I've recently found out that he's my father, this isn't why I don't want him dead. He's the leader of the NCO and we need to question him."

….

As the President walked onto the CIC everyone was preparing for the assault.

"Mr President we'll be able to watch everything as it happens over here." Commander Garrett said walking over to the giant viewing screen.

"Very good Commander." He replied.

Garrett put on her head set as the cameras from the assault team started to power up.

"Archangel this is Orion actual can you hear me?" Garrett asked.

"Loud and clear Orion actual we will be touching down momentarily." Archangel replied over the COM.

Moments after the shuttle touched down in the hanger bay Archangel led the marines and Skeeter out quickly and quietly. The few members of the ships deck gang backed away as they saw the marines run past them. They moved quickly and silently through the ships decks, people moving out of their way without a word as they passed. As they reached the elevator that would take them to H deck they noticed ships security for the first time.

"What the frak is going on?" the security officer bellowed, "You don't have authority to be running around here armed like that."

Archangel didn't respond, he raised his rifle and shot all three officers with the knock out rounds."

"Well look at that, they do work after all." He said.

The marines all chuckled as they got into the elevator.

"Major this is Orion actual was that necessary?" Garrett asked over the COM.

"We don't have time to be explaining ourselves." Archangel replied, "We're about to reach H deck, treat everyone we come across as hostile and put them down. Going silent."

All the marines and Skeeter nodded.

The whole CIC watched in silence as Archangel led his squad out of the elevator. As he walked he hit two people with knock out rounds before they had time to even realise he was there. Archangel kept looking at the numbers on the door of the suites. As he turned back around he stopped dead in his tracks.

"Oh my gods." Garrett said.

Standing in front of the squad, further down the hall stood Galen Hunter.

"Hello son." He said and smiled.

Archangel raised his weapon.

"You are under arrest. Put your hands in the air and do not move." Archangel replied.

"I'm sorry son, I can't do that." He replied before turning and moving quickly into cabin 38.

"Son of a bitch." Archangel replied as he took off at full pelt.

"Archangel wait!" Vannick shouted. As the words left his mouth there was an explosion from cabin 38 which blew the door off into the corridor and knocked Archangel and the others to the ground.

"Archangel this is Orion actual do you copy?" Garrett said having seen the whole thing on the screen in front of her, she knew he was a lot closer to the explosion that the other, "Archangel come in, Vannick can you hear me?"

"Orion actual this is Vannick we're okay, I'm going to check on Archangel." He said.

They watched as Vannick got to his feet, they could tell he was swaying a little as he moved as fast as he could towards Archangel. Garrett's heart was in her mouth and she couldn't breathe. Vannick turned Archangel over, there was a little blood coming from a few small cuts on his face but they couldn't tell how badly injured he was.

"Archangel are you okay?" they heard Vannick say as he checked for a pulse, "Orion actual he is alive, I have a pulse."

"Thank the gods." Bojay said from next to the Commander.

Suddenly Archangel's eyes fired open and he sat up with a huge gasp of air.

"Are you okay?" Vannick asked.

They watched as Archangel nodded his head, "Mother fraker that hurt."

Archangel looked at the door for cabin 38 as flames poured out of them. Moments later the fire suppression system kicked in and started to put out the flames.

"Well at least it wasn't me who killed him." Archangel said.

"You sure you're okay?" Skeeter asked.

Archangel nodded, "Yeah, just got the wind knocked out of me, I'm okay."

They all dropped to the ground again as the sound of a gun shot rang out. Skeeter looked around and saw the man who had fired at them, he was the closest to him and started to give chase.

"Skeeter wait." Archangel said trying to get back to his feet.

"I'll go after him." Vannick replied.

Skeeter ran as fast as he could to try and catch the man who had just been shooting at them. The man in front shot his gun again, the bullet whizzed past Skeeter hitting the wall he passed. Skeeter took out his side arm as he ran.

"Stop or I will shoot you." Skeeter shouted.

The man didn't respond not that Skeeter expected he would. He raised his gun and tried to aim before lowering it again. The man turned for a second and saw Skeeter was baring down on him, as he turned back he couldn't stop himself in time from clattering into a woman and falling to the ground. He looked up and raised his gun to shoot Skeeter, who reacted first shooting him in the shoulder and making him drop his gun. The woman screamed as she scrambled to her feet.

"Please don't shoot me." She wept.

"Just go." Skeeter said, his gun pointed at the fallen man on the floor.

"Just do it." The man said.

"You're coming with us you mother fraker." Skeeter said.

Vannick grabbed the man by his jacket collar and dragged him to his feet before cuffing his hands behind his back.

….

Garrett, Bojay and the President stood on the hanger deck as the shuttle came to a halt. Two body bags carried by marines came out of the open door way followed by Archangel and Vannick dragging the prisoner.

"You've got to let me off Orion," the man screamed, "Take me anywhere else in the fleet but not here please, please take me somewhere else."

"Shut the frak up." Vannick replied.

"Take him to the brig sergeant, we'll follow you down shortly." Garrett said.

"Yes ma'am." Vannick said dragging the still screaming man.

"Two bodies?" Milo asked as Archangel and Skeeter walked up to them.

"Yes sir, it would appear one would be my father and I'm guessing the other his Cylon helper." Archangel replied.

"What happened?" Garrett asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Archangel replied, "I saw my father, he entered the room and then moments later BOOM. I'm guessing if that really is him then he didn't want to be taken captive."

"You have your doubts as to whether that's him?" Bojay asked.

"Yes I do," Archangel said, "They knew we were coming this is far too convenient. If he did get away frak knows how because we combed that room."

"We'll have the doctor run tests to see if it is them or not." Garrett said.

"The bodies are very badly damaged, it's going to take them a while before they can find anything out."

As the body bags where taken away Carrie appeared on the hanger deck.

"Was it him, is he dead?" she asked walking up to her brother.

"It would appear so at the moment but we don't know for sure." Archangel replied.

"But you saw him, we saw him on the vid screen." Carrie replied.

"We don't know for sure." Archangel said to his sister.

….

The prisoner sat in the brig, he seemed terrified to be on Orion.

"Are you sure you don't want me to go in there?" Archangel asked.

"Yeah I'm sure," The commander replied, "I want to have first crack at this guy."

Garrett opened the door and silently walked in and took a seat in front of the man.

"Do you know who I am?" Garrett asked.

The man nodded.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"My name? My name doesn't fraking matter, all I have to say for the moment is I want off this ship, take me to any other ship in the fleet just not this one."

"Afraid one of your NCO friends will come and silence you before you tell us any secrets?"

The man shook his head.

"Are you afraid on Major Hunter coming in here?"

He shook his head again.

"I just want off this ship."

"Why?" Garrett said.

"I just do." He replied.

"I'll tell you what I'm going to go now and leave you to sit here on your own for a couple of hours and then we'll try this again okay." Garrett said with a smile.

….

Grace and Dr. Hammond stood looking at the two corpses, burned so badly any features had been melted away. DNA had been extracted and was being tested. As they didn't have any direct DNA to test for Galen Hunter they had decided to test it along side some from Archangel, if it was his father that should be enough to let them know.

"I wonder if that's the threat over with?" Hammond said.

"I tend to agree with Mark it's all just a little too easy." Grace replied.

"But if it is, without their leader surely their plans are ruined."

"One thing about terrorist organisations there is always someone waiting and willing to step in and take over." Grace said.

"I'm going to have to go and do my rounds across the fleet soon I take it you'll be okay holding down the fort?" Hammond asked.

Grace nodded, "Not a problem."

She smiled as she saw Archangel walk in.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah," He replied, "Just getting inpatient for the results."

"They're going to take a little while longer yet." Hammond replied.

"I know," Archangel said, "I just can't believe that this could be my father. All I can think is if he survived what about my mother and brother."

"If this is him you may never know." Grace said.

"My whole life I've thought of my dad as just a normal guy, running a business who couldn't hurt a fly and then this happens. Why didn't I see what type of man he was?"

"Because he's your father. We often look at the people we love through rose tinted glasses and ignore the truth even when it's in front of us."

"But I should have known." Archangel said.

"Why?" Grace asked, "Why should you have known?"

"Because I know when people lie, I'm trained to see it."

"Don't be too hard on yourself." Grace said.

"I have to go. Will you let me know when you find out?"

Grace nodded, "Where will you be?"

"I'm going to fly CAP, I need something to take my mind off things."

He kissed Grace before leaving sickbay. Grace didn't know what to think about the impending results, she didn't know whether the man she loved wanted this to be his father or not, only time would tell.

….

Bojay couldn't concentrate as he paced backwards and forwards in CIC. He had the chatter from the CAP over the speaker to try and help him focus on something but even that wasn't helping.

"Colonel." Ensign Phillips said.

"Yes Ensign."

"I have Captain Monroe on the horn from the Phoenix Flame, he wants to speak to either you or the Commander and he doesn't sound happy."

Bojay sighed to himself, "Put him through."

He took a deep breath before picking up the handset in front of him.

"This is Colonel Johnson."

"What the frak gives you people the right to come onto my ship and start shooting at people?" Monroe yelled down the phone.

"We had information that we had to act upon as quickly as we could." Bojay replied.

"And you didn't have enough time to give me a courtesy call?" Monroe snapped back.

"With all due respect to you Captain we didn't know who we could trust, we have no idea who could be NCO and we couldn't risk tipping off the people we were looking for."

"So now you don't trust me?"

"We don't know you," Bojay responded.

"I'm done speaking to the monkey when I want to speak to the organ grinder put the Commander on the line NOW." Monroe demanded.

Bojay hung up the phone, "Ensign when he calls back tell him we're busy."

"Yes sir." Phillips replied with a smile.

"Holy frak what's going on?" Bojay heard Jawbreaker shout over the COM.

"Put me through to Jawbreaker." Bojay ordered.

"Channel open." Phillips replied.

"Jawbreaker this is Orion sit rep?" Bojay said.

"Orion this is Jawbreaker a shuttle from the Starburst just nearly took Bria out, whoever is controlling it is flying like a lunatic." Jawbreaker replied.

"Try and get through to the shuttle." Bojay said to Phillips, "Jawbreaker where is it heading?"

"Orion I'm not sure, they're flying very erratically. We are inbound now to the shuttle but we are at least three minutes away. Bria wasn't with us when they nearly hit her."

"Colonel whoever is flying that ship isn't responding." Phillips replied.

"Orion the shuttle has altered course and is heading straight for the medstars engines," Jawbreaker said, "We won't be able to intercept before they hit."

"Orion this is Archangel I have just launched to join the CAP I am inbound for the shuttle, I'm 30 seconds out. Am I clear to engage?"

"Only if it looks like they aren't going to break off." Bojay replied.

Archangel had his throttle fire walled as he sped towards the shuttle. He could see Jawbreaker and the others on an intercept course. As he closed in he took the safeties off his vipers cannons.

"Orion this is Archangel they are not changing course, I will be in weapons range in ten seconds."

"Archangel you're clear to take them out." Bojay replied.

Suddenly the shuttles course changed again and it started flying directly at Archangel.

"Orion this is Archangel the shuttle has changed it's course, it's coming directly for me."

"Archangel this is Orion your orders are still the same, if they don't change course take them out." Bojay replied.

As the shuttle started to come for him Archangel wasn't worried, he knew that he could out manoeuvre them, even at the last second.

"Archangel this is Jawbreaker break for fraks sake."

"Jawbreaker I have this covered." Archangel replied.

Moments later the shuttle was seconds from smashing into the oncoming viper. Archangel cut his engines and with thrusters only moved out of the way, keeping the nose of his viper on the shuttle at all times he spun his plane around the left side of the small shuttle with his finger on the cannons trigger, hitting the shuttle with every large calibre round until he brought the viper to a stop at the rear facing the engines with his cannons still firing in one breakneck move. The shuttle exploded.

"Orion this is Archangel, target eliminated."

"Good work Major." Bojay replied over the COM.

"Archangel this is Jawbreaker, holy frak man I've never seen anything like that in my life, good flying."

Archangel gave a little laugh, "Thanks buddy." He replied.

There was still nothing like the feeling of excitement when flying a viper.

….

Garrett had been watching the prisoner. There was clearly something wrong, he had been panicking and screaming to be let out since she had left him. She took a deep breath and walked back into the room.

"Commander please, I'll tell you anything, just as soon as you get me off this ship." He said before she had even sat down.

"What exactly is going on with you? Why are you so desperate to get off Orion?"

He didn't say anything.

"Well then let me tell you that you're going nowhere until you tell me."

"Please." He said.

Garrett didn't reply this time she just stared at him making him even more uneasy.

"Fine, there is a nuclear bomb aboard this ship."

Garrett's eyes widened as he spoke she stood up, "Where?"

"Storage compartment 17c, next to the engine room. It'll be detonated at 14.30pm."

Garrett looked at her watch and saw there was only twenty minutes remaining. She dashed out of the cell.

"You come with me," Garrett said to one of the marines, "You give me your headset."

As the marine handed her the small earpiece Garrett started to run with the marine along side her.

"Ma'am what's wrong?" he asked.

"There is a nuclear bomb by the engine room." Garrett replied, "CIC this is the commander I need a squad of marines to go to compartment 17c by the engine room immediately, we have a suspected nuclear bomb there which is expected to go off in the next twenty minutes. Anyone in that compartment who does not stand down is to be met with deadly force. Move Orion out of fleet formation but DO NOT tell anyone why, if anyone asks tell them for safety reasons." Garrett took her thumb off the transmit button.

It seemed like an eternity for Garrett and the marines to get to the engineering section. The squad of marines she had sent for were just ahead of them. Garrett moved her way to the front where marine Lieutenant Josh Mains met her.

"Commander." He said quietly.

"Lets move fast." She said with her gun held tightly.

As they moved into the corridor outside the engine room they were met by three engineers who had been shot dead. They reached compartment 17c there was no sign of anyone around.

"Kill anyone inside." The commander said.

Lieutenant Mains nodded in reply, "Commander I must however insist that we go in first."

She knew by looking at the giant marine that he wouldn't take no for an answer despite the fact she outranked him. Mains and two other marines took point before kicking the door down. Garrett heard three shots ring out.

"Clear." Mains shouted.

"The rest of you secure the deck." Garrett said to the other marines. She walked into the room and saw three men lay dead, "How long do we have?" she asked.

"We got lucky," Mains replied, "It was a manual trigger."

"Are you sure there is no timer?" Garrett asked.

"No ma'am there's nothing." The corporal by the bomb said.

"I want to know where this nuke came from and how they got it down here." Garrett said.

"Yes ma'am," Mains replied, "I'll send someone to the nuclear armoury."

Garrett walked over to the nearest phone.

"CIC." Garrett said.

Moments later she heard Bojay on the other end.

"Are you okay Commander?" Bojay asked.

"We've found the nuke and it's safe. Resume formation with the fleet and to a full radiological sweep, we need to know if there are more of these out there."

"Yes ma'am." He replied.

"I've sent marines to the nuclear armoury to see if it came from there. We need to know who on this ship is NCO."

"Would you like me to speak to the prisoner?" Bojay asked.

"Do you think you'll be able to make him talk?"

"You've been good cop so far I can try and be bad cop."

"Okay, hurt him but don't kill him. I don't want to have to send in Archangel unless it's absolutely necessary."

"Don't worry, I'll get him talking." Bojay replied.

….

Carrie stood looking at the remains from the explosion. She thought it would have been harder to look at the charred remains of the man everyone thought was her father.

"Are you okay?" Grace asked walking up to her.

Carrie nodded, "Yeah, I don't know why but I am. I knew this was coming as soon as we found out who Mr Caprica actually was and even though he's done such unspeakable things I thought I would be upset. I can't even seem to cry for him."

"I have the results." Grace said.

"And?" Carrie asked.

"From the tests Dr Hammond conducted it would seem that this is your father and the other man is most definitely a Cylon."

Carrie took a deep breath, "Have you told my brother?"

"Not yet."

"I'll do it," Carrie said, "It should come from me. Grace what's that?" she asked pointing to the corpse.

Grace looked at the body.

"It looks like it was scar tissue." Grace replied.

"Can you tell how recent it is?"

After a few moments Grace spoke, "It looks like it's quite old but the body is so badly damaged."

"But it's definitely not from the past year or so?"

"I'm quite sure that it's old."

"Then that's not my father." Carrie said.

"Are you sure?"

"I've spent most of my adult life till the Cylons attacked seeing him every day, he had no scars on his hands."

"I need to run these tests again." Grace replied. As she turned around everything went black.

….

The door of the cell burst open and Bojay stormed in, raised his gun and shot the prisoner in his shoulder. The man screamed in pain.

"What the frak?" he said.

"That's so you know I'm not fraking around," Bojay said, "I need you to tell me who on this ship is NCO."

The man looked up at him but didn't reply. Bojay pressed the barrel of his gun into the fresh bullet wound on the mans shoulder.

"Who on my ship is NCO?" he asked.

"DR HAMMOND!" he screamed in reply.

….

"What's going on?" Carrie asked.

Hammond pointed her side arm at Carrie.

"I'm getting off this ship and you're coming with me." Hammond snapped in reply.

"I'm not going anywhere with you."

"Do you want me to kill you? Do you want to die?"

Carrie shook her head, "No. You're the NCO agent we've been looking for."

"And since the NCO seems to be crashing down around me I thought now might be a good time to get the frak out of dodge before that idiot they've got in the brig shouts his mouth off." Hammond said.

"How do you expect to get off Orion?"

"There's a raptor waiting for me to go do my rounds across the fleet, simple as that. You're coming with me as you want to go see a friend. If you make a scene or try and tell anyone what's going on then I'll shoot you in the face before I go and find Wedge and do the same to him and everyone else you care about until either they're all dead or I'm stopped."

Hammond picked up a bag and waved Carrie to go to the door with her gun. As they walked out of sickbay Hammond put her side arm back in its holster but kept her hand on the handle.

"Are you going to kill me when we get to wherever it is that we're going?" Carrie asked.

"Not if you keep your mouth shut, I vanish into the fleet and by the time you can tell anyone I'm long gone. I have people expecting me."

Hammond drew her side arm and grabbed Carrie pointing the gun at her head when she saw Bojay appear in front of her with a few marines.

"Drop your weapon now." Bojay said.

"Or what?" Hammond replied with a smile.

"Or I will end you." Bojay replied.

"Not before I kill precious little Carrie here."

"Why Christine, why the frak are you doing this? You're a colonial officer." Bojay said.

"Well I may as well tell you my name is not Christine Hammond it's Alexa Drenoff."

"Drenoff?" Bojay said, "As in the Libran crime family Drenoff's?"

"The very same," she replied, "This life here in the military, this was just to piss off daddy. It worked but the toasters attacked and made it permanent. Not something I'd foreseen. When the NCO came calling I thought I'd finally live up to my name."

"So where did Christine Hammond come from?"

"Oh Christine Hammond was real, real until I slit her throat and took her identity for my own."

"Well Alexa there's no way out of this, let Carrie go and no one needs to get hurt."

"Bojay you're a pretty man but you're dumb as frak, back off or she DIES."

As Alexa spoke she had no idea Grace had come too and was right behind her. Blood poured from a wound on her forehead, she steadied herself, pressed her gun into the back of the woman's head and pulled the trigger, killing her instantly. Carrie screamed as she heard the gun shot thinking she was about to die but then saw Alexa slump to the floor. She turned covered in Alexa's blood and pieces of brain and skull to see Grace standing behind her.

"Are you okay?" Grace asked.

Carrie nodded.

"Good." Grace smiled before loosing consciousness again. Carrie rushed forward to catch her.

….

Two hours later Commander Garrett sat in her quarters with the President, Bojay, Archangel and Carrie.

"Grace is going to be okay," Garrett said, "Dr Green has come over from the Medstar and he's stepping in as senior medical officer for the time being. He's running the DNA tests that Hammond, sorry that Drenoff had run to double check the results."

"I can't believe it was her," Archangel said, "All this time she's pretended to be our friend and all this time she's been plotting against us."

"It explains how the NCO have had been able to get access to information that hadn't been released to the rest of the fleet." Milo said.

"The nuke we found onboard was definitely one of ours. It had been taken from the armoury with the correct access codes and the two marines that guard it were found dead inside," Bojay said, "We've run a fleet wide radiological sweep and come up with nothing on any of the other ships, we got lucky."

"What about the NCO prisoners we have onboard?" Milo asked.

"Simon Given was found dead in his cell an hour ago, he had hung himself," Garrett said, "We still have no idea who our other prisoner is but we'll keep him in the brig for the foreseeable future."

"I'm heading back to the Caprican Sunrise I need to address the fleet, let the people know what has been happening." Milo said.

"Do you think it's wise to leave Orion just yet?" Bojay asked.

"I can't live in fear of the NCO," Milo replied, "Commander if you're able I would like you to come with me so we can make the address together."

"Of course." Garrett replied, "Other than that we go back to what passes for normal lives these days. Wait for those DNA results and see where we go from there."

As everyone left the room the president walked with Carrie.

"I'll have everything ready to go for when you're ready to leave." Carrie said.

"I want you and Skeeter to stay here." Milo replied.

"Why?" Carrie replied.

"I want you to spend some time with Wedge and Skeeter with Bria. You don't see them enough and I can handle what I need to do by myself."

"But Mr President you have a speech to make to the fleet."

"Carrie my mind is made up, take the next couple of days to be with your friends, you've earned it. That's an order."

"Yes sir." Carrie replied with a smile and a sarcastic salute.

….

Kal walked onto Orion's busy hanger deck. He saw Hydra sitting in the back of her raptor and walked over to her.

"You got two minutes?" Kal asked.

"For you I have five." Hydra replied with a smile.

"Simon's dead." Kal said.

"What?" Hydra replied.

"They found him in his cell, he had hung himself."

Hydra began to cry. Kal hugged her.

"I can't believe it." She said.

"He's been very unhappy for a very long time. This is my fault, I should have taken more time to spend with him, to make sure he was okay. I failed him." Kal said.

"No, this isn't your fault at all. You were a better friend to him than I was. Since I've been on Orion I hadn't given him a second thought, just dived head long into my new life. I'm so sorry."

"I need you to promise me something."

"Anything." She replied.

"No matter what's wrong if you need to you'll talk to me right?"

Hydra looked up at her giant friend and it was the first time she had ever seen him cry. She nodded her head.

"The same goes for you." She said.

"I'm going to try and organise a service of some kind. I know he was NCO and I know how hated they are on this ship but if you could be there, it would mean a lot to me."

"Of course I'll be there."

"I also wanted to tell you that I've applied for a position on the hanger deck here. I want to be closer to my friends."

Hydra hugged the big man again.

"I'd like that." She replied.

….

Wedge smiled when he saw Carrie standing in Orion's observation room. He had managed to convince the officer in charge of the room to give them some privacy for the next thirty minutes. She stood looking out of the giant window watching the fleet.

"Hey." He said.

"Hey yourself." She replied.

"You okay after everything that's happened?" he asked walking up and hugging her.

She nodded her head, "Thanks to Grace. The world just seems to be getting more crazy by the minute these days."

"The world can get as crazy as it wants as long as we can get moments like these."

Carrie smiled, "Now there's something I can agree with."

"You know I never realised until I met you that I was missing something from my life. The last few months have been the best of my life. Everyone I knew at home may be dead but still I'm happy. When the Cylons took you I've never felt so helpless. Not being able to come and help you was the worst feeling I've ever had. From the first time I met you on the hanger deck when your brother had brought you here all those months ago I've been in love with you. I know I've got a high risk job and things tend to get a little crazy around here, I know we don't always see each other every day but that doesn't change how I feel," Wedge reached into his pocket and got down on one knee, "Carrie Spence will you marry me?"

Carrie had not expected this at all. But she agreed with everything he had said, she smiled at the young man in front of her, "Yes Anthony Manning I will."

Wedge put the engagement ring on her finger, stood up and kissed her.

….

"Orion raptor 34 you are clear for take off." Orion's LSO said.

Garrett sat at the control of the small ship with the president along side her.

"Orion this is raptor 34 thank you. See you shortly." Garrett replied.

Raptor 34 took off and headed for the end of the landing bay.

"Do you miss it?" Milo asked.

"Miss what?" Garrett replied.

"Being in the cockpit." He replied.

"Sometimes. It was a lot simpler just being in charge of a Raptor. What about you? Do you miss flying vipers?"

"No not at all. I had my time in the military and after that war and the time I spent in the service after it was long enough."

Garrett noticed two of the vipers from the CAP appear either side of them.

"Looks like we've got company." Garrett said.

"Raptor 34 this is Streaker we've been asked to escort you to the Caprican Sunrise."

"Streaker this is raptor 34 thanks for the company." Garrett replied.

The raptor and two escort vipers made their way through the fleet. They watched all the shuttles going back and forth between the fleet's ships.

"Caprican Sunrise this is Orion raptor 34 requesting permission to land in the main hanger bay." Garrett said.

"Orion raptor 34 this is Caprican Sunrise you are clear to land." Came the reply.

As they made their approach the two vipers broke off and rejoined the CAP while the commander took the raptor into the hanger bay. Minutes later they were coming to a halt amongst the other shuttles already there.

"Welcome home." Garret said.

As they got out of the raptor they were met by several of the president's aides and one of his security team.

"Mr President, Commander Garrett it's good to see you back. Per your instructions we have a draft of a speech waiting for you in your office if you would like to read it before we make any changes." Lisa West one of the aides said.

"Thank you Lisa." Milo replied as they all started to walk off the hanger bay.

Milo and his aides talked about meetings he had to go to and phone calls he had to return as they walked. Garrett walked behind them not really listening to anything that was being said. Instead she found herself looking at everyone they passed, not trusting anyone at all. It was a relief when they reached the president's office.

"Here's the speech we put together Mr President. I'll leave you to read it," Lisa said, "Commander can I get you anything?"

"No thank you." Garrett replied.

Lisa walked out of the room as Garrett sat herself down.

"She's keen." Garrett said.

"I think she wanted the job I gave to Carrie. I am lucky though, I have a good team."

….

The CIC was back to it's usual busy self. Everyone went about his or her business leaving Bojay to drink his tea in peace at the command console. The wait for the second set of DNA results on the bodies was starting to drive him mad. He and everyone else just wanted to know what was going on, it was watching grass grow. As Bojay took another sip from his mug everything in CIC powered down. Blackness descended.

"Report, what's going on?" Bojay said.

Seconds later everything came back to life.

"I have no idea sir." Ensign Phillips responded, "I'll run a diagnostic."

The young ensign walked over to another computer screen, "What the frak?"

"Talk to me ensign what's going on?" Bojay said.

"Files are being deleted from the main computer and I can't stop it."

"Colonel all communications are down." A specialist shouted.

"Get them back up." Bojay said as he walked over to Phillips.

"I can't see what's being deleted, it's not stopping, I've even tried to shut the system down."

Bojay didn't know what to say or do.

"Dradis has just gone down." The specialist shouted again.

"What the frak is going on here." Bojay said to himself.

They watched helplessly as files were deleted. Then suddenly it stopped and the CIC was plunged into darkness again for a few seconds before everything powered back up.

"It's stopped," Phillips said, "Communications and dradis appear to be back online again."

They both walked over to the command console and looked up at the dradis monitors.

"Oh frak." Phillips said again.

"Oh my gods," Bojay said, "The Caprican Sunrise and forty two other ships are gone." Bojay said.

"Colonel I'm receiving reports from the Gunstars, the same thing happened to them, information was deleted. Gunstar Aries has suffered an explosion and their FTL has been damaged. Oh gods, I'm receiving reports that eleven other ships also suffered explosions." A specialist reported.

"What the hell is going on?" Bojay said to himself.

….

Garrett looked out of the window in the Presidents office. Most of the fleet hadn't made the jump.

"Something isn't right," Garrett said, "We weren't scheduled to jump till this evening and Orion isn't with us."

"I'll find out what happened." Milo said picking up his phone, "The line's dead." He said.

From outside gunshots and screams rang out. Garrett drew her sidearm.

"Do you have anything you can use for a weapon?" she asked.

Milo opened his draw and took out a handgun and several extra magazines, "Skeeter insisted after what happened with the NCO."

He took the safety off and chambered a round. Milo took up a position behind his desk while Garrett stood off to the side of the door with her gun ready and waited. The gunfire from outside got closer and then stopped. Garrett took a deep breath and then nodded to Milo seconds before the door burst open and an armed woman ran in. Garrett didn't hesitate, with her gun raised head height she pulled the trigger hitting the woman in the temple, killing her instantly. Before the following man had time to react Garrett had done the same to him. Milo fired four shots but the other people outside had seen what happened and had got out of the way in time. Garrett dived for cover as a flash bang grenade rolled in. Before she could find the cover she needed the grenade went off and her hearing started to ring at the same moment her vision started to spin. She raised her gun at the four-armed men who walked in but was easily disarmed. She felt herself be dragged up to her knees and felt the barrel of a gun press into the side of her head. As everything started to come back into focus she saw a too familiar face walk into the room. Galen Hunter smiled down at her.

"Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated." He said.

….

"Who's flying the raptor on CAP?" Bojay asked as reports from across the fleet began to filter through.

"Death lock and Hyper sir." Specialist Smith said from the communications desk.

"Tell Death lock I want her to jump to the emergency standby coordinates and see if the rest of the fleet has jumped there for some reason."

"Yes sir." Smith replied.

"Colonel five of the ships that reported explosions have had their FTL drives too badly damaged to fix." Phillips said.

"What about Aries?" Bojay asked.

"Initial reports are saying the damage isn't too bad and they should be able to fix it in about four to five hours."

"Which is it four or five?" Bojay replied.

"I don't know sir they weren't any more specific than that."

"Well tell them to be more specific. Have repair crews been sent to the other damaged ships?"

"They just left. What do you want to do about the five ships we can't fix?"

Bojay thought for a second. Talk about a trial by fire he thought to himself, "Evacuate them and have them stripped of anything we can use, supplies, parts anything."

Bojay looked up as Archangel walked into the CIC.

"What the frak has happened?" he asked.

"We've lost forty three ships including the Caprican Sunrise."

"How?" Archangel asked.

"We don't know yet. At the same time they jumped away information started to be deleted from Orion's main computers. There have been explosions across twelve ships including the Aries, four of the ships can't be fixed."

"Frak me." Archangel said, "What can I do?"

"Have a look through the computer see if you can figure out what happened."

"No problem but we should get Mike Campbell over here from Columbia." Archangel said.

"I'll put a call out for him when we know what's going on."

"Colonel there is a call for you from the Vice President." Smith said.

"Tell her I'm busy, give her a brief rundown of what we know and tell her I'll call when I'm able." Bojay replied.

"Yes sir."

….

"I saw you go into that room before it blew up." Garrett said.

"No you thought you did. Neat trick huh? I used this little device Miss Tauron's husband gave me before he died." Galen pressed the button on a small silver disc in his hand a second version of him appeared next to him, doing everything he did at the exact same time, "Little holographic gizmo, lets me be in two places at once."

"Then whose body did we find?" Milo asked.

"Oh that would be Adam Grayson."

"You son of a bitch." Garrett said.

Galen laughed, "He was caught trying to get a message to you, so I made an example of him."

"What about his daughter?" Garrett asked.

"Oh she's fine. I'm not going to punish her because her father is a traitor, that would make me a monster."

"It's too late for that you already are one." Garrett replied.

"No I'm a saviour."

"Orion will find us." Milo said.

"No I don't think they will. You should have been more careful about who you give access to your critical systems. Alexa was able to plant a virus into Orion and the Gunstar's computers. When I triggered it the virus destroyed all the information that we don't want your crew to have."

"And what information would that be?" Garrett asked.

"The habitable planets that the Battlestar Icarus and her fleet found. I am going to give the people of my fleet what they need, a new home and no one is going to stop me. Not everyone in this fleet is NCO at the moment but once they see what I am going to give them they'll join the queue of people wanting to shake my hand."

"Until they realise what kind of man you are?" Garrett said.

"What true to my word and a saviour? You know I really didn't intend on you two getting caught up in this. As far as I was concerned you were going to be left behind with the others, but I have to say having you both here really is just the icing on the cake for me. Milo Vents the man who used to be president and Vanessa Garrett the murderer of my unborn grandchild. Alexa told me about that and I have to say that I wasn't pleased. Did my son ever find out?"

"What happened between me and your son is none of you business." Garrett replied.

"Well we'll have plenty of time to talk about that and other things. Now if you'll both excuse me I have a fleet to address," Galen turned to his men, "Lock them up somewhere."

Garrett and Milo looked at each other before being dragged away.

….

4 HOURS 43 MINUTES LATER

"I've found something." Archangel said.

"What is it?" Bojay asked walking up to his friend.

"It would appear they deleted the coordinates of the habitable planets the Icarus found. I had a hunch and looked for that data and sure enough it's not there."

"That's where they must have gone," Bojay replied, "Surely there were back ups of that information?"

"Yeah there was, on the Gunstars and the Caprican Sunrise. I bet you anything the same information is missing from the gunstars too."

"My gods, trying to find them now will be like a needle in haystack."

"Yeah a haystack the size of Caprica City." Archangel replied, "Hang on I've found a piece of data that was uploaded while everything else was being deleted, it seems to be a video file."

"Play it." Bojay replied.

They all turned to face the vid screen as Galen Hunter appeared on it.

"Crew of the Battlestar Orion I just thought I'd send you my best. If you don't already know the body you have in your sick bay isn't me, it's Adam Grayson. I have taken my followers and we are going to a new home, a home where you are not welcome. I regret the bloodshed that has come from both sides and I hope this is a point where we can draw a line in the sand and go our separate ways. We will not cause you any more trouble I hope you can do the same for us. Finally I just wanted to say to my son and daughter that I love you both very much and I am so sorry we have been on different sides in all this. This is Galen Hunter leader of the NCO and this is the start of the new dawn."

Bojay turned to Archangel and could see the rage building up inside him.

"We'll find them." Bojay said.

"And when we do I'm going to put that son of a bitch in the ground where he belongs." Archangel replied.

"Multiple Dradis contacts." Phillips yelled.

"Is it them?" Bojay asked hopefully.

"No four Cylon base ships on an intercept course, they're launching raiders."

"Tell the gunstars to jump ahead with the fleet, put us between the Cylons and the Aries and set condition one throughout the ship. Launch attack squadrons and may the gods help us." Bojay said.


	24. Hope

"People of the fleet, my name is Galen Hunter. As I'm sure you all know by now we are not with the rest of the fleet. We, the NCO have delivered on our promise to find you a new home. I know that not all of your were part of our cause before but I want to assure you that you have no need to worry. In three days time we will arrive at our new home. A planet much like Caprica, where we will be able to settle and plan for the future instead of running in fear. The days ahead will be hard while we strive to forge a life for ourselves but I promise you all it will be worth the hard work. There have been terrible stories that I know you have heard about the NCO. They are lies. Lies from a military and government who knew their time was coming to an end. These lies have been told to you in an attempt to keep you in line. We will never lie to you, we will make good on all the promises we have made starting with our new home. We are the New Colonial Order and this is your salvation."

….

"Action stations, action stations set condition one throughout the ship. Launch viper and raptor attack squadrons." Ensign Phillips ordered.

"Suppression barrage is in place." One of the specialists shouted.

"Lets hit the Baseships with EMPs." Bojay ordered, "What's the ETA on Aries?"

"Captain Archer has informed us they will be ready to jump in eight minutes." Phillips replied.

"Inform her that we need constant updates." Bojay said.

"Aye sir." Phillips replied as the whole of the ship shook violently.

Bojay looked up at the dradis console and saw two of the Baseships were starting to flank either side of them, "Order the bow and stern top cannons to switch to salvo fire and aim for the centre access. Where the frak are the EMPs?"

"Missile crews are having problems activating them." Phillips said.

Archangel ran onto the flight deck, which was in chaos. As he started up the ladder to his viper one of the deck gang handed him his helmet. Other vipers were launching ahead of him. He could hear the chatter from the pilots who had already launched. As he put his helmet on the canopy closed and he was loaded into one of the tubes. As it closed behind him he turned to see the launch tube controller. They quickly went through the flight checks and moments later Archangel was launching down the tube. As soon as his viper came out into space he saw the four base ships ahead and the raiders bearing down on them. He saw blue squadron, his squadron not far away engaging a large group of raiders.

"Archangel this is Hammer I've got your wing." Lieutenant Mia Thorpe said as she came along side him.

"Copy that Hammer lets go junk some toasters." Archangel replied.

The two fighters quickly flew and joined the others. Archangel targeted a raider and opened fire cutting it in two.

"Flanking Baseships are holding position," Phillips yelled.

"Radiological alarm." A specialist shouted.

Bojay waited but the flak barrier took out the missiles. Bojay clicked on his headset.

"Hydra this is Bojay take raptors 20 through 30 and make a missile picket across our top side." Bojay said.

"Bojay this is Hydra not a problem." She replied over the COM.

The pilot chatter was chaotic.

"EMPs are ready." Phillips said.

"Tell them to fire them and get another barrage prepared." Bojay ordered.

"Colonel Aries reports they're on track and will be ready to jump in the time frame they gave us earlier."

"Orion this is Wedge, a group of raiders have broken off and are heading straight at the Aries. I'm taking Red squadron to intercept."

"Understood." Phillips said.

"Red squadron follow my lead we need to give Aries some cover." Wedge ordered as he turned his viper.

As the vipers of red squadron engaged the raiders the gunstars weapons opened fire helping to take out the raiders intent on their destruction.

Wedge watched as a raider turned and started to bare down on him. As calmly as if he was playing a hand of triad Wedge aimed his fighter at the enemy, which was already firing its cannons at him even though it was still out of range. As the kill shot came into range Wedge pressed the trigger and literally cut the enemy in half. He turned his viper to give chase on the next raider in range and did the same again.

"Emps didn't hit their target," Phillips said, "Cylons intercepted them before they could hit."

"Frak we took too long firing them." Bojay said.

"Colonel two of the base ships are heading straight for us. They must have figured out what we're doing."

"Intensify fire on the incoming ships. We're going to have to do this the old fashioned way."

Orion's main battery turned the majority of its fire on the two giant ships heading straight towards them. Despite taking hit after hit they kept coming. Orion's heavy rounds tore through arms of the Baseships as they edged closer and closer to the Battlestar.

"This is Jawbreaker, my wingman has been taken out and I've got a raider on my six that I can't shake." He said over the COM.

He felt a round graze the wing of his fighter but managed to keep it under control. Bullets whizzed past his fighter as the raider continued to fire at him. He knew that if he couldn't shake this toaster he wouldn't last much longer.

"Jawbreaker this is Party Boy I'm heading straight for you." Jasper Vents replied to his squadron leader.

"Party Boy I can see that you're heading straight for me!" Jawbreaker exclaimed.

"Jawbreaker on the count of three pull up."

For the first time in a long time Jawbreaker felt nervous.

"Party Boy don't frak this up."

"1… 2…3." Jasper shouted.

As Jawbreakers viper went vertical Jasper opened fire hitting the raider completely unaware.

"Good shooting Party Boy, thanks for the save." Jawbreaker said.

As Archangel destroyed his tenth raider of the battle he saw four raiders turn and head straight at him. As he cut his engines he used the momentum he already had and his thrusters to pull a 180-degree spin with his finger on the trigger. One by one the four raiders exploded. Archangel turned to see the two base ships still bearing down on Orion. While Orion's cannons tore through the Baseships she was taking heavy damage from their weapons, the closeness of the two Baseships was also causing a bigger problem. Orion's weapons were designed to be powerful and the close quarter combat was beginning to cause damage to the Battlestar from the recoil at close range and the debris from the Baseships, which had nowhere to go, but straight at them.

"Colonel we can't take much more of this," Phillips said, "The Port flight pods are taking heavy damage and we're causing a lot of it ourselves."

"How long till Aries is ready to jump?" Bojay asked.

"Two minutes." Phillips replied.

"Frak me this is going to be close."

As Archangel watched Orion taking damage he made what he knew to be a stupid decision that could be the last one he ever made.

"Hammer head for the barn for reload." Archangel said.

"Yes sir, what about you?" she replied.

"Just go that's an order."

Archangel fire walled his fighter and left the young Lieutenant behind. He switched his weapon control from cannons to missiles as he whizzed through the middle of countless dogfights.

"Orion this is Archangel I'm going to try and give you a hand."

"Archangel this is Bojay what the frak are you doing?"

"Hopefully not killing myself."

As he finished speaking he turned his viper so his engines were facing Orion and his nose the base ship. As he fought with the controls to keep momentum and speed, bullets and missiles tore past him, missing him by millimetres. One by one as he passed between the two giant ships he fired his complement of eight missiles, each of them hitting one of the base ships missile launchers. Somehow seconds later he flew out the other side still alive. He let out a sigh of relief before turning his fighter back into the fight. The missile hits had caused small amounts of damage to the baseship but they had hit their targets and the Cylons were unable to fire as many missiles at Orion.

"Wedge this is Nightwing you've got a raider baring down on you from the stern." Wedge heard over the COM.

As he turned his viper around the nose was hit by the raiders rounds. He fought against his plane to keep it steady, taking all his skill. He opened fire with the ships cannons. The rounds fired wildly as Wedge fought for control. The seconds that followed seemed like hours. As the raider baring down on him exploded he realised he had been holding his breath.

"Red squadron this is Wedge I'm heading back to the barn. I've lost partial thrusters control, Hammer take over till I get back out."

As Wedge fought to turn his Viper towards the landing deck he could see all his fellow pilots attacking the swarming raiders and felt guilty for heading back in.

"Colonel one of the Baseships seems to have lost flight control and they're on a collision course with us." Phillips yelled.

"ETA?" Bojay replied.

"1 minute." He shouted back.

"Start jump prep tell Captain Archer if they're not ready to go when we are scuttle the Aries and abandon ship." Bojay ordered.

The whole ship rocked as they were hit again by enemy fire.

"Colonel the Aries FTL is back online they're ready to jump." Phillips said.

"Tell them to get the frak out of here and recall all vipers. Helm as soon as the Aries is gone back us off those baseship. Order gun captains to let rip with everything they have." Bojay ordered.

"All squadrons this is Archangel everyone head for the starboard flight pod you are clear for combat landings." Archangel ordered.

As the Vipers and Raptors turned to the flight pod the raiders turned for them. The flight pods cannons turned to the raiders to give the fighters covering fire. Archangel and Jawbreaker turned as they reached the flight deck and both opened fire to add more cover.

"Jawbreaker Archangel you okay over there?"

"Frak yeah, call me sick but this is fun." Jawbreaker replied.

As Aries jumped away the last of the fighters landed.

"Jump prep complete, Aries is away and all fighters are aboard." Phillips shouted.

"Jump us." Bojay ordered.

As the out of control baseship almost hit Orion the ship jumped.

"Jump complete." Phillips said on the other side followed by loud creaking and the whole ship shuddering as explosions hit the port flightpod.

"Report." Bojay yelled.

"Too early to report," Phillips replied, "Damage control teams are away."

Bojay sighed and looked around the CIC. The crew had done an amazing job, he was proud of them all. The first hard job was done, they had saved the Aries, now all they had to do was find the rest of the fleet. Bojay had to stop himself from laughing, "all they had to do" he thought to himself, like it was going to be easy.

"First reports are in Colonel. The flight pod has taken heavy damage but the explosions have stopped. We got lucky but we've taken a hell of a beating."

"Let me know when the damage and casualty reports are in."

As the fighters started to come onto the flight deck Carrie and Skeeter stood at the side waiting.

"It doesn't get any easier does it?" Skeeter said.

"No it doesn't." She replied.

"Congratulations by the way." Skeeter said.

"What?" Carrie replied.

Skeeter smiled and pointed to the ring on her finger.

"Thank you." She replied with a smile.

As Wedge's viper was put into its bay Carrie saw the bullet holes down the ships nose and the smoke pouring out of it.

"Oh my gods." Carrie said.

"I'm sure it looks much worse that it is." Skeeter said.

Wedge smiled down at Carrie as he took his helmet off.

"You letting them use you for target practice now?" Carrie asked as he walked down the ladder onto the deck.

"Thought I'd give them a chance." He replied with a rye smile. He kissed and hugged her, "Anyway the Cylons wouldn't dare stopping me from coming home to you."

Skeeter moved aside as medics ran onto the deck and headed to a raptor. He felt bad that he felt relived when he saw the name on the side of the raptor wasn't Bria's.

Everyone turned and looked on in silence as a bloodied and burned Deadeye was taken screaming in agony out of the damaged Raptor.

….

Galen Hunter couldn't help but smile to himself as he looked out as his fleet. He sat in what had been the Quorum of Twelve's large meeting room aboard the Caprican Sunrise. He took a sip from a glass of whiskey, it tasted good, he wondered if it was because it had been the President's till not long ago. Early reports from across the fleet were there had been no sign of physical uprising from any of the people who had not been with the NCO before this all happened. He turned in his chair as he heard the door open and John walked in.

Galen smiled, "Can I get you a drink John?" Galen asked.

"No thank you," John replied, "I just wanted to let you know that the ships captain's will all be coming over this afternoon per your request."

"Good and what of our two prisoners?"

"They've been moved to where no one will find them. Commander Garrett hasn't said a word but the former president is demanding to speak with you."

"Well the former president can wait a while, I think a day or so before I let him speak."

"Very well." John replied.

Galen could tell that his trusted right hand had more to say but was keeping whatever it was to himself.

"Speak your mind John."

Cavil sighed before he spoke, "I don't think it's a very good idea having those two aboard. If the people find out we have them it could destroy everything we've been working for."

"I understand your concerns but they're too valuable to just kill. Should Orion find us we'll need them to bargain with. Only a handful of our men know we have them onboard and that's how we will keep it. They know not to tell anyone and if they do they know what will happen to them. We use the same men to guard them and we will be fine."

"You're the boss, I just wanted to let you know my feelings on this."

"And thank you for telling me, you've been a good friend through all this I couldn't have done this without you."

….

Orion and what was left of her fleet had taken refuge in a large planetary system. Damage reports had been coming in over the last hour and things didn't look as bad as first feared but still didn't look good. Bojay, Archangel and Wedge all stood around the dradis console on the CIC.

"How bad is it?" Wedge asked.

"Bad enough that until we have the damage to the port flight pod fixed we can't go toe to toe with any more Baseships." Bojay replied.

"How long are we looking at?" Archangel asked.

"Ideally the damage report teams tell me three months." Bojay replied.

"Frak." Archangel and Wedge both said in unison.

"There is a small silver lining," Bojay said, "This system that normally we wouldn't have even stopped at has a small habitable planet that we can use to restock."

"That's all well and good but what about the Commander?" Archangel replied.

"That's why I've called them here." Bojay said pointing to the four Gunstar Captain's as they walked onto the CIC.

Everyone saluted each other.

"Follow me please." Bojay said leading them to one of the CICs larger side rooms.

When they all were in the room Bojay closed the door behind them.

"How bad is the damage to Orion?" Captain Karren Archer of the Gunstar Aries asked.

"Not as bad as it could have been but bad enough so we don't want to face off against any Cylons for a while. I've called you all here to discuss what we're going to do next. We need to get Orion fixed and the best estimates are it's going to take about three months." Bojay said.

"That's not good we need to get out there and looking for them now." Captain Reynolds of the Cryxus replied.

"This system is perfect for us for now, what with the habitable planet we can stock up and fix Orion. I want to send out the Gunstars and use this system as a base. We load them up with some vipers, raptors, supplies and any extra crew and see what you can find." Bojay said.

"That's going to be a hard slog." Archer said.

"Maybe so but we have to do everything we can." Wedge said.

"Agreed and it's all that we can do until we can reassemble the information deleted from our computers." Bojay said.

"Can we actually do that?" Captain Wally West of the Gunstar Serenity asked.

"We have one of our best people on it. It could take a long time but if anyone can do it he can." Bojay replied.

"I've spoken to the Chief and he thinks that we should be able to fit twelve vipers and three raptors on each of the Gunstars hanger bays." Archangel said.

"I need you guys to let us know what supplies you need and how much room you have for extra marines and deck crew for the hanger bay." Bojay said.

The captains all nodded.

"We'll speak again before you all head off. Can Captain Reynolds and Archangel hang back a moment please?" Bojay said.

After everyone else had left Bojay spoke again, "Mal I'm right in thinking you're the most experienced Gunstar captain we have?"

"Yes Colonel. I've been in command of the Cryxus for six years now." Captain Reynolds replied.

"I've been thinking and I could use someone with your experience as my second." Bojay replied.

"Sorry what?" Reynolds replied surprised.

"Will you be my second in command until we find the commander? I really could use the council of someone who knows what they're doing." Bojay replied.

"Yes of course. I'll head back to Cryxus and get my things and inform Lieutenant Walker to take over." Reynolds replied.

"That's the other thing I wanted to mention, if you have no objections I'll put Archangel in commend of Cryxus." Bojay replied.

"Of course." Reynolds replied.

Archangel looked surprised at the conversation he was hearing.

"Archangel I want you to assign pilots and CAGs to all of the Gunstars before you get your kit and head over to Cryxus."

Archangel nodded his head, "Erm yeah sure."

"You okay?" Bojay asked.

"Yeah I'm good, just wasn't expecting any of this." Archangel replied.

"I'm sure you'll do fine Major." Reynolds said.

….

Garrett sat by herself in a small dark room. Her head was swimming from both the situation and the remaining pain from the butt of the gun they had used to knock her out. She had stopped wondering what they had in store for her, whatever it was she was sure she would find out soon enough. Garrett staggered to her feet and managed to walk the four steps to the cot that masqueraded as her bed and lay down. She felt herself start to doze off and decided to let herself go to sleep. Just as she fell asleep a spotlight appeared from above her making her cover her eyes with her hands. The door opened and John Cavill walked in with a smile on his face and sat down in front of her.

"Don't worry Commander there is no need to get up." Cavill said.

"Frak you." Garrett said quietly.

Cavill chuckled to himself, "Vanessa, may I call you Vanessa?"

"Do what you want you will anyway you Cylon scum." Garrett replied.

"Vanessa no one is going to believe you when you call me a Cylon. I've helped Galen so much he's never going to believe anything you say."

"More fool him." Garrett replied.

"Like father like son."

"What so there's another Hunter out there getting fraked by a Cylon?"

Cavill laughed, "Just not in quite the same way."

"So what's the plan?" Garrett asked.

"Galen is taking everyone to a planet that he intends on letting his people live on. He may be drunk with power but his intentions are good I suppose."

"So how long will it take for your people to find us?" Garrett asked.

"Truthfully I've no idea but it's just a matter of time. Do you think Orion might turn up in the meantime?" Cavill asked.

"Who knows but I can tell you this, my people are looking for me, yours aren't. Archangel and Bojay won't stop until they find us."

"Of that I have no doubt. You know Orion was a surprise to us, we knew it had been built but we were too over confident in our attack plan. If I'm honest in my opinion Orion isn't the problem it's been you and your crew. We underestimated you humans, that started with Major Hunter, then Orion and Galactica, our overconfidence is our weakness."

Garrett let out a laugh, "Is this what you came here for? A heart to heart and to blow smoke up my ass?"

"I suppose I did come here for a heart to heart. It's been so long since I could talk to anyone freely."

"So when we triggered that virus to knock out all the Cylons what happened to you?" Garrett asked.

"Luckily I was by myself in my quarters. By the time anyone came to me I had regained conciousness and no one was any the wiser. After my brothers and sisters had been so careful not to allow any other copies of me into the fleet while we were here it would have been unfortunate."

"I'm sure it would." Garrett replied.

"I can't guarantee what Galen has in store for you but I will promise that I will make sure he won't kill you."

"And why the frak would you do that?" Garrett asked.

"Honestly because I like you Vanessa, you impress me. What you have accomplished with such little command experience. I've been amongst humans for a long time and believe it or not I'm starting to find a fondness for you, I want to see how far you can get before we stop you."

….

"So can you explain to me why you made these decisions without talking to me first Colonel?" Vice President Natasha Cobb asked.

"With all due respect Madame Vice President we don't have the time to talk about every decision that needs to be made." Bojay replied.

"And who gave you the authority to make all these choices on your own?" Natasha replied.

"Is this really how you want to start things off between us?" Bojay asked, "We are in crisis and I'm trying to make the best of a bad situation and I don't have time to waste on your ego. So do me a favour go and tell the people of the fleet that we'll be staying here while it's safe and they can make the most of that planet as they want. I will continue to get this ship ready to fight and to find Commander Garrett and President Vents and remember don't push me."

"Is that a threat?" Natasha asked.

"Madame Vice President I have no intention of stepping on your toes, you go run the civilians and I will continue to run this ship and always remember I have two words that I will use if you keep pushing me."

"Oh and what might they be?"

"Martial law." Bojay replied with a smile.

Natasha was lost for words, she didn't know what to say at all. She had thought this pilot would be a push over.

"I'll give you regular updates on the repairs and any updates from the search and when we're ready to move on. Now if you'll excuse me I have a lot to do."

….

Archangel caught up with his sister as she walked to CIC.

"Do you have a couple of minutes?" Archangel asked.

"Of course I do, what can I do for you?" she replied.

"I'm taking command of the Cryxus and we're going to search for the Commander and the President."

"You're going away?" she replied.

"Yeah, Orion needs to stay here and this is a good place to make repairs and stock up on supplies so that means we need to go out and start searching."

"How long will you be gone for?" Carrie asked.

"Really, as long as it takes." Archangel replied.

"I'm going to miss you." Carrie said hugging her brother.

"I'm leaving Wedge in command of the air wing."

"He asked me to marry him." She said showing him her ring.

"I'm glad just promise me one thing."

"Anything." She replied.

"Don't get married till I get back."

Carrie smiled, "Of course. Just come back in one piece."

Archangel smiled back, "No problem."

After her brother started to walk away she carried onto the CIC. When she reached the door she saw Bojay standing at the dradis console.

"Colonel can I speak with you?" she asked.

"Did the vice president send you?" he replied.

"No I'm here under my own volition."

"Then speak." He replied with a smile.

"Since President Vents isn't currently here and Vice President Cobb has told me that she doesn't need my help I am here to offer my services as your assistant."

"Do you think I need one?"

"With all due respect yeah I do. I can tell already that Cobb and the government are starting to piss you off, I know how they work and I can deal with them for you. Unless you want to deal with Orion and the government by yourself?"

"You're hired. If you can keep Miss Cobb off my back as much as you can then you're going to be my new best friend."

….

The pilots briefing room was full, every pilot, viper and raptor had squeezed into the room. As Archangel took the podium silence fell on the room.

"By now I'm sure you all know what's going on. The NCO have taken a large number of our ships and gone on the run. Orion is too damaged to go searching for them so Bojay has decided we're going to send out the Gunstars to try and find them. We're going to be putting eighteen vipers and three raptors aboard each Gunstar. Captain Reynolds has been given the position of Bojay's temporary XO and has put me in command of Cryxus. While I'm gone Wedge will be standing in as Orion's CAG. Streaker I'm giving you the position of CAG aboard Aries, Bria you'll be with me on Cryxus, Hydra you'll be CAG on Serenity and Dogstar you'll be on Onyx. I have no idea how long we're going to be out on our own. Orion needs three months to get back into proper fighting shape before they can join in the search. The locations we ideally need are the habitable planets Olympus found when she was with Icarus but that information has been deleted from all the systems that had it. Someone is trying to rebuild that information but it's going to take some time if it can be done at all. So until then we're flying blind. I want to wish you all good hunting and hand you over to your acting CAG."

As Wedge started to speak Archangel walked out of the room and started walking towards his quarters. He had had enough of all the talking he just wanted to get on with it now.

"Hey." Grace said as she came along side him.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked.

Grace nodded her head, "Are you on your way to get packed?"

"Yeah." Archangel replied.

"Me too." She replied.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm coming with you. Dr Green has everything under control here and additional medical staff are being sent to each Gunstar so I volunteered for Cryxus."

"It'll be nice to have you along."

….

Natasha Cobb and the members of the Quorum who were left in the fleet sat aboard the Blazar, their temporary home until the Caprican Sunrise was found.

"I had invited Colonel Johnson along to this meeting but honestly I don't expect him to turn up. He already has a search and rescue mission, which is being prepped to leave by the end of the day. We all know that since that information has been deleted from our ships systems finding the NCO is going to be like searching for a grain of sugar in a pile of salt. I think we need to start coming up with a plan for what we are going to do if these SAR missions fail." Natasha said.

"We need to start thinking about the future of this fleet more than we have been doing before," Darren James the Quorum member for Aquaria said, "For all this time President Vents has just been blindly led around by the nose by Commander Garrett while she just leads us from one crisis to another. We have a planet here that we can start to build a life on. Yes I know the Cylons could find us and I know what happened on New Caprica but we cannot continue to live like this."

"I agree," Natasha said, much to the surprise of everyone in the room, "We need to start looking into that planet and thinking of it as our new home." She said pointing out of the window to the small world.

"Personally I think our priority should be assisting Orion with whatever they need to find the missing ships of our fleet, helping to get supplies onboard all our remaining ships and explaining to the people that the stop at this planet is only temporary." Wallace Gray said.

"How many more times are we going to do that though?" Natasha said, "I put to you that we start putting together a plan of colonisation for the sake of the tens of thousands of people that we have under our care. Majority vote."

Out of the ten people in the room seven were for and three against.

"And what do you intend to tell Colonel Johnson?" Wallace asked.

"Nothing," Natasha replied, "At least not yet. We let him get on with what he has to do and we do what we need to do. Then we tell him."

"I for one do not feel comfortable with this." Wallace said.

"We're not plotting against the military Wallace we're securing our future. Johnson is too focused on what he needs to do right now to even think straight."

Everyone stopped talking for a moment as the door to the room opened and Carrie walked in.

"Miss Spence may I ask what you are doing here? I thought I made it clear that I didn't need your assistance as an aide." Natasha said.

"Oh you made that perfectly clear Madame Vice President but it seems Colonel Johnson does need my help." She said as she sat down at the foot of the table.

"Excuse me?" Natasha said.

"Colonel Johnson is a busy man. He is new to this position and I offered to help him with this side of his responsibilities. So he sends his apologies for not coming to this meeting but for the foreseeable future I will be here on his behalf."

"You wasted no time in changing your position of power." Natasha said.

"It's not about a position of power, it's about using the skills I have to help the people who need them. I have no interest in positions of authority, I'm just here to help." She said with a smile.

"Well I for one welcome you Miss Spence." Wallace said.

….

As Bojay walked onto the CIC he realised how tired he was for the first time. He hadn't stopped or even sat down for as long as he could remember, never mind having a drink or something to eat. Captain Reynolds stood by the console.

"Colonel." Reynolds said.

"Captain anything to report?"

"Repair crews have sectioned off the port flight pod and repairs have already begun. Raptors have been placed on patrol at the edges of the system, should anything jump in out of our range they'll find them and let us know. The Gunstars are all nearly ready to head off, the last of the vipers are being loaded aboard now and the additional crews are heading over."

"Thank you Mal."

"Sir once the Gunstars are underway I must insist you go get some rack time. I can hold the fort."

"You know what I'm not even going to argue with you," Bojay said, "I haven't slept in what feels like days now and I haven't eaten since breakfast yesterday."

"It's going to be about another hour before the Gunstars head off why don't you go get yourself something to eat, I'll call for you if anything happens." Mal said.

"Okay." Bojay said turning to walk off. He stopped and turned to his new XO, "Mal, I just wanted to say thanks."

"You're welcome, now go before I have marines escort you to the galley." He replied with a smile.

….

As Archangel walked through Cryxus he couldn't remember the last time he had been aboard a Marduk class Gunstar, despite the fact they had four of them in their fleet. He wore his blue officers uniform, which was something he was going to have to get used to. It was nowhere near as comfortable as a flight suit. As he walked onto the CIC everyone stood to attention.

"MAJOR ON DECK." A voice cried.

"Please everyone at ease, you don't need to do that every time I walk into the room." Archangel replied.

"Major Hunter all the supplies and additional crew members are aboard, we are just waiting for the three raptors." Lieutenant Nicky Walker said to him.

"Thanks," he replied. The small CIC reminded him a lot of a mercury class CIC, "Captain Reynolds speaks very highly of you."

"As do I of him." She replied.

"I just want you to know that I don't want to rock the boat here. This was Colonel Johnson's idea, he wanted Captain Reynolds experience at his side." Archangel said.

"I completely understand." she said.

"I want the ship to keep running as it always does, if it aint broke don't fix it."

"I hear that sir." Nicky replied with a smile.

Archangel looked over with surprise as Skeeter walked onto the CIC.

"What are you doing here?" Archangel asked.

"I'm a marine." Skeeter replied with a smile.

"Since when?" Archangel asked.

"Since I have no current job and the woman I love was sequestered here. I asked if I could temporarily help out and they said yes."

Archangel felt a little better about the whole situation having both Grace and Skeeter here with him.

"Lieutenant Nicky Walked this is my best friend and now apparently a marine Mike Kent."

"Pleased to meet you Mike." She said shaking his hand.

"Please call me Skeeter." He replied, "And pleased to meet you too."

"Hanger reports the raptors are aboard." A specialist shouted.

"Please inform Orion that we are ready to depart as soon as the other Gunstars are." Archangel said.

….

Galen Hunter sat with the captain's of the ships that had joined his fleet. So far things were going well and the mood was light.

"I can't stress enough that I don't think Garrett will waste time coming after us. All we've done is go our separate way." Galen said.

"When we reach the planet what happens if the Cylons do find us?" Marcus Jones asked.

"I have had people working on weapons systems to protect us. Some of our ships are already being armed and more weapons are being put together to make them more formidable. When we get to the planet we have a planetary defence system that we will put into place. Anyone who isn't transmitting the right codes will be fired upon by automatic weaponry with heavy cannons. I made a promise to make sure the people who came with us were well protected and that is a promise I intend to keep."

"My XO has been talking to the people aboard who before this were not part of our cause." Captain Samantha Earl said.

"And?" Galen asked.

"Once it had been explained where we were going and why we were leaving they understood. She told them the things they had heard about the NCO were all lies spread by the military and the government." Samantha replied.

"Speaking of government that's something I wish to discuss." Captain Edmund Pike said, "What are we going to do with leadership, who is going to be in charge?"

This took Galen by surprise. He had never thought anyone would expect someone other than him to be in charge.

"We already have leadership," Marcus said, "He's sitting right there." He said pointing to Galen.

"Surely the people should decide that?" Edmund asked.

"He deserves to be given the chance to lead." Marcus snapped.

"Gentlemen please this is not the time to argue. This is our new beginning lets not start it with arguments. I'm thrilled some of you want me to lead our people but this is a discussion for tomorrow. I'll let you all get back to your ships, we all have a lot of work to do. Captain Pike would you wait behind so we can speak?"

"Of course." Edmund replied.

Once all the other captains had left the room only Galen, Edmund and Cavill remained.

"I understand you were lucky enough to be with your wife and twin daughters when all this began?" Galen said.

Edmund smiled and nodded, "Yes I was one of the fortunate ones."

"I need you to listen to me and I need you to hear what I have to say."

"Of course." Edmund replied.

"I have worked very hard to be sat here with you right now. To have this fleet following me. A lot of people have died some of who were very close friends of mine. I've pissed off my son to the point where if he sees me again he'll likely put a bullet in my brain. What I'm trying to say is I've sacrificed far too much to have my authority brought into question by you."

Edmund sat with a shocked expression on his face.

"I am in charge of this fleet and that is how it will remain. If you bring up this subject again, if you even so much as think of suggesting we find someone else to lead you'll watch your family float out of an airlock before I beat you to death."

Edmund didn't know how to take what was being said to him. He began to smile a little thinking it must be a joke. As Galen saw the smile he lunged out of his chair and grabbed Edmund by the back of the head pulling it right back.

"Do not smile, I am not joking with you. I will kill your family if you bring this up again or if you tell anyone about this conversation. Do you understand me?"

"Yes." Edmund replied terrified.

Galen let the man go and sat back down. He nodded to Cavill who walked over to the door and opened it to reveal a giant of a man who walked into the room. If his sheer size wasn't intimidating enough the mess of scars covering the left hand side of his face would have done the job.

"Edmund this is Jacob he will be escorting you back to the Aurora where he will keep an eye on you, to make sure nothing ever happens to that beautiful wife and those adorable girls of yours. Do you understand me?"

Edmund nodded his head frantically.

"Good. Now get out."

Edmund scrambled to his feet almost running out of the room followed by Jacob. Cavill closed the door behind them.

"Are you sure that was a good idea?" Cavill asked.

"Yes John it was. We won't have to worry about him again. Is there anything else?"

"Doctor Henderson reports that the first ten weapons platforms will be complete by the end of the day."

"Good. Now if you'll excuse me I need to get some sleep."

….

As Bojay left the galley he was starting to feel a little better. His stomach was full and he had a cup of hot steaming tea in his hand. Once he had seen the Gunstars off he would get some rack time before it all started again tomorrow.

"Colonel." Bojay turned to see Carrie walking up to him, "Do you have five minutes?"

"I most certainly do. I'm heading to the CIC to see the Gunstars off so you're welcome to walk with me. How was the meeting?"

"The Vice President was not happy to see me and even less happy when she found out why I was there."

"What did you find out?" Bojay asked.

"Not much as the invite you sent was intentionally sent at the last minute. From what I could glean she wants to make plans for colonisation of that planet. Not for immediate use but for in case they're needed."

"Okay I suppose it can't hurt to have them." He replied.

"There's no doubt in my mind that she has the best interests of the people at heart. She does appear to be throwing herself into the job with everything she has but I fear that as far as President Vents goes it may be a case of out of sight out of mind."

"Then we'll have to keep reminding her of him."

"You are going to have to show your face to some of these meetings I'm afraid but I will prep you before hand on the protocol and who everyone is. I think Wallace Gray will be your strongest ally in there."

"Good to know."

As they walked onto CIC Captain Reynolds met them.

"All the gunstars have reported ready for the off sir." Reynolds said.

"Mr Phillips put me through to the Gunstars." Bojay said.

"Channel open sir." He replied.

Bojay put down his tea and picked up the handset, "All gunstars you are clear for departure. I just want you all to know we are all grateful for what you are about to do. Be safe and good hunting."

As he put the handset down Phillips spoke, "Colonel I have Major Hunter on the horn."

"Put him through." Bojay said signalling to Carrie to pick up a handset.

"You okay Archangel?" Bojay asked.

"Yeah," he replied, "Just wanted to say good luck back here while we're gone. Is my sister there?"

"I'm here." Carrie said.

"I'll see you soon okay?"

"Just don't do anything stupid." She said.

"When do I ever do anything stupid?" Archangel replied with a laugh.

"I'm serious please come back in one piece."

"Don't worry I will. See you all soon."

The line went dead.

"Colonel the gunstars have jumped away."

"Now we wait." Bojay said.

….

The Cryxus jumped to its first co-ordinates in a bright flash.

"Jump complete."

"Dradis is clear." Walker said.

Archangel looked up at the blank dradis monitor. They were alone.

"Okay begin long range sensor sweeps lets see what we can find." He said.

"Aye sir." Walker replied.

Archangel looked around the small CIC at all the people doing their jobs. Most of them he had never met before and now he was responsible for them all. He already knew the first sign of any Cylons and they would be gone, he wasn't going to risk their lives. He had to find the Commander that was all he could think of, that was all that was important. He tried to keep thoughts of his father out of his mind, they just made him angry. When they found them that's when he would let the anger build so he could do what he needed to do. He couldn't believe it was the same man who had raised him, the man who had been so influential as to the person he would become, that man was dead, he had died on Caprica. This man was something else a monster who wore his fathers face. He thought of his mother and brother who had died alone somewhere at home. He had held out some hope for a while that because they weren't at their home they could still be alive but that hope had faded a long time ago now.

….

Vanessa Garrett awoke suddenly. Before her eyes could adjust she felt herself being dragged off the small bed before she hit the ground with a thud. She looked up and saw a man she didn't recognise stand aside as Galen Hunter walked into the room and sat on the bed.

"Sleep well Commander?" Galen asked with a smile.

"What do you want?" Garrett replied.

"To talk."

"We have nothing to talk about."

"That's where you're wrong we have a lot to talk about. Do you love my son?"

Garrett didn't reply. Galen nodded to the other man who reached down and grabbed the commander by the hair before punching her hard in the face. She saw stars for a few moments. She put her hand to her cheek, which now hurt like hell. Looking at her hand she saw blood.

"I'll ask you again, do you love my son?"

Garrett looked at him with hate in her eyes, "Yes." She said quietly.

"So why did you terminate my grandchild without even telling him?"

"We're in no position to raise a baby on that ship, not the way things are."

"Why didn't you tell him?"

"Because he wouldn't have been able to think clearly and he would have tried to stop me."

"I believe that. You know I always thought I would make a good grandfather. Believe it or not I was a great Dad, I love all three of my kids."

Garrett laughed at this.

"Something funny Vanessa?"

"Just what you just said. Does it weigh heavy on your conscious the fact that you left you wife and other son to die on Caprica? Just think if they weren't killed outright by the Cylons the slow death they would have had at the hands of radiation poisoning. Horrible way to die."

"Shut you fraking mouth or I'll break your jaw." Galen yelled.

"Do you really think Orion won't find you?" Garrett asked.

"We purged all the information from your systems as to where we could be going. They will never find us."

"I wouldn't be so sure. We have a scientist who has been all the way through Orion's computer systems and here's the kicker, he has a perfect eidetic memory. By the time he realises what's missing from Orion's computers all he'll have to do is tell them the co-ordinates and they will be on you faster than you can imagine."

"We'll take our chances," Galen said, "I'm confident we'll be safe where we are."

"I just hope I get to see the look on your face when they find you. Do you have any idea what your son will do to you?"

"I know my son better than you could know. I am perfectly aware of what he is capable of, I've known for a long time. You talk of monsters, he's the biggest one you'll ever meet. The only reason you don't see it is because he's your monster who does all your dirty work for you," Galen stood up, "Get comfortable in this room, you'll be here the rest of your life." He took a duffel bag from the other man and threw it on the bed, "That's all the kindness you'll get off me. You should be grateful that my aide John is a kinder man than I." He turned and walked out of the room followed by the other man.

Garrett crawled back onto the bed, her head swimming in pain. She reached for the bag and pulled it onto her lap and opened it. Inside she found a change of clothes, a few packs of emergency rations and two bottles of water. There were also a few candles with a book of matches, a small towel and a couple of tatty well read books at the bottom. Vanessa quietly began to cry.

TWO DAYS LATER

Orion sat in orbit above the small habitable planet they had found in the star system. Some other ships of the fleet were in a similar orbit as they started to run supply missions to the surface. The rest were close by.

Bojay walked onto the damaged flight pod for the first time. The hanger deck was busy with repair crews fixing the visible damage, while more crewmembers were starting to fix the outside.

"Colonel sorry we didn't know you were coming down." Chief Samantha Evans said when she saw the XO.

"Don't worry about it Chief, I just came down to see the extent of the damage. I didn't realise it was so bad." Bojay replied.

"It's taken us longer than we would have liked to get started as we had to get all the vipers and raptors to the other flight pod. We had to make sure all the fuel and munitions were moved as well."

"You're doing a great job."

"Thank you sir. I know they've only been gone a couple of days but has there been any news yet sir?"

Bojay shook his head, "No nothing yet. It's going to take a while to find them unless we're very very lucky. But in recent days when have we been lucky?"

"We have our days." The Chief replied with a smile.

"If you need any help or anything at all you let me know. This is our priority at the moment."

"We should be okay sir but I'll let you know."

"Please do." Bojay replied before walking away.

….

The Vice President sat looking at the details from the initial surveys done by Orion and the rest of the fleet.

"It's small," her aide Jonathan Fisher said, "But we could definitely live here. There is everything we need to make a good go of it."

"This is good news." Natasha replied.

"When are we going to tell the population about this? People are already wanting to go down and stretch their legs."

"Not now," Natasha said, "There are too many things we have to sort out first. If we push Colonel Johnson to far too early then things could back fire. This is still a plan in its early stages. You never know one of the gunstars could find the rest of the fleet and then we'll have got peoples hopes up for nothing."

"Can I ask do you want them to find the President?" Jonathan asked.

"What sort of question is that?" Natasha asked.

"I know it's your place to take over if the President isn't able too but surely we should be following his initial plans for the fleet?"

Natasha sighed, "We are, these plans are for down the road, for if we need them."

"Of course." He replied.

….

Mike Campbell found himself back on Orion, it's always where he seemed to be these days. He had joked the other day that they may as well put his name on the door of the small room next to the CIC he always seemed to be working in. Bojay hadn't laughed. He had never been good at joking or being funny, he would stick to computers, they were far easier to deal with. No one had told him what had been deleted from the system, he hadn't asked as he assumed it was something he didn't need to know or was top secret. If he had the time he could trawl through all of Orion's computer systems and find out for himself. He had done so much work on the ships systems recently he would probably be able to remember what was missing. No one had told him so he didn't ask and that was how he was going to keep it. So far it had taken him all this time to write a program that would be able to reconstruct all the deleted information now he had started it off. Thankfully all his computers were still hooked up from the last job he had done, that had saved him a lot of time. Mike looked up as the door opened and Captain Reynolds walked in.

"Good morning Mr Campbell." Reynolds said.

"Mike." He replied.

"Excuse me?" Reynolds said.

"Call me Mike, you say Mr Campbell and I get worried my dad is in the room."

Reynolds chuckled to himself, Mike smiled, maybe he was better at making people laugh than he thought.

"I know these are early days but how is it going?"

"I've just launched the program, it's going to take a long time. It has to try and identify what was here before and then it has to try and reconstruct it, it's going to take a very long time."

"Well Colonel Johnson says you're the best man for the job." Reynolds replied.

"I'll do the best I can." Mike said.

"That's all we can ask."

"I have been looking into the program that did this. Dr Hammond was very good at using computers, she knew how to get into Orion's most protected systems and drop the virus right behind the firewall."

"You almost sound impressed." Reynolds said.

"I am. This kind of computer hacking is impressive. Not triggering any of the security protocols, not alerting anyone to the fact it was there. Amazing doesn't quite cover it. I've known some of the best hackers in the colonies, but even they couldn't do what she did."

"Has she left any other surprises in the computers?"

"I've run a virus scan with every program I have and unless she's better than me, which she wasn't, there's nothing there. It's all good."

"That's something at least. I'll let you get back to your work."

"Of course. I'll be in and out of here though as all I can do now is wait and see."

….

President Vents hadn't seen any sign of anyone in days. There was already a bag of emergency rations and water in the room when he had arrived. He hoped that Commander Garrett was alright, he feared for her safety. He had thought of his son a lot he hoped he would be okay as well. At least he had his new job to keep him busy. He looked up as the door opened and in walked Galen Hunter with one of his men.

"Mr Vents it's nice to properly meet you." Galen said holding out his hand.

Milo looked at Galen's hand and then back at the man holding it out, "I demand to see Commander Garrett."

Galen sighed and pulled his hand back, "That's not going to happen, take my word that she is alright."

"Your word? You'll have to excuse me if I laugh." Milo replied.

"Regardless I thought you might like to know that the people of the fleet are happy with their current situation and are excited to see their new home tomorrow."

"Forgive me if I don't share their optimism." Milo replied.

"You know I hoped that maybe one day we could stand together in front of the people and we could shake hands to our future."

Milo laughed, "I don't think I share your optimism either."

"This is the way it's going to be, I am going to take these people and we are going to live our lives free from you and the military and very soon they will be calling me Mr President."

"I knew that was what this is about you and power." Milo said.

"That's what it's always about. Everyone wants the chance to have some power, others don't want to let go of it once they have it."

"Enjoy it while it lasts." Milo replied.

….

1 DAY LATER

The NCO made its final jump to its final destination. Galen stood on the bridge of the Caprican Sunrise. He stood by the giant window at the front of the bridge, which looked out at their new home. He smiled to himself, finally after all these months of planning they were here.

"Put me through to the entire fleet." Galen said.

"Channel open." The captain replied passing a handset.

"People of the fleet this is Galen Hunter. After all the months of hardship I am pleased to finally tell you that we have arrived at our new home. Later on today we will be heading down to the planet to start looking for an area for us to build our new homes. It's not going to be easy but working together we will be able to build our new home quickly. I want to thank you for the faith you have put in me, for the trust you have shown. I will not let you down. I am Galen Hunter and we are now home."

Vanessa couldn't stop herself from crying as she heard the words coming over the speakers. The only thing she could think of was Orion would be coming soon, they would save her.

TWO MONTHS LATER

The main wardroom aboard Orion was full of ships captains, the quorum and the vice president. Bojay and Carrie both stood outside having a last minute chat.

"Is there anything else I need to know before I walk into the lions den?" Bojay asked.

"Everything I know you know," Carrie replied, "There probably will be more. You know better than anyone else how much the Vice President has been shutting me out."

"That needs to change," Bojay said, "They need to be made aware that we're following the President's orders."

"Remember I'm with you in there, you're not on your own." Carrie replied.

Bojay took a deep breath to compose himself before he walked in. The room fell silent as both he and Carrie walked in.

"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, my apologies for keeping you waiting. As I'm sure you're aware running a Battlestar is a busy job." Bojay said.

"You have nothing to apologise for Colonel." Natasha replied.

Bojay and Carrie both sat down in front of everyone else, every eye in the room baring down on them.

"How go the repairs?" Captain Jonas of the Starburst asked.

"Slowly. There was more structural damage than we first thought," Bojay said, "The Baseships came in so close our weapons were doing damage to us as well as them."

"I know we've asked this a thousand times before Colonel but is there anything we can do to help speed things up?" Natasha asked.

"No thank you. Our repair crews are going as fast as they can, anyone else down there would just be getting in their way."

"Very well." She replied. There was a pause for a few seconds before she continued to speak, "We need to talk about our long term plan."

"I thought we already had Madame Vice President. We fix this ship and we find the rest of our fleet." Bojay replied.

"We've been here two months now and that planet has become a gods send to us. We have people down there constantly now getting supplies. The Quorum, the captains and I all agree that we should start to look into colonising that planet."

This was becoming to sound like a broken record to Bojay.

"That's not the plan." Bojay replied.

"With all due respect Colonel what exactly is our long term plan? Even if or when we find the rest of our fleet? We keep running into space? How many habitable planets are we going to keep going past? I know you don't want to hear it but this is even a conversation I've had with the President, Miss Spence can verify that."

Bojay looked at Carrie who gave a little nod in reply.

"I appreciate the threat of the Cylons finding us is constant but we've been here two months now and nothing yet."

"The Battlestar Galactica's fleet were on New Caprica for over a year before the Cylons showed up and we all know what happened then. None of you saw that planet and what happened there I did. The horrors those people faced everyday will be with those survivors we found for the rest of their lives, just ask Wallace Gray. Do you really want to put out people through that?"

"The flip side to that is do we really want to keep putting our people through the horrors of prolonged space travel?" Natasha asked.

Bojay sighed, he knew that everyone in that room with the exception of Carrie were against him.

"And what of the orders President Vents and Commander Garrett left us with? I want it on record that I do not want to go against them." Bojay said.

"Colonel we understand that," Parker Jones the Aquaria Quorum member replied, "We understand your loyalty to your commanding officer, it is commendable and we respect it but we have to look at the bigger picture, President Vents and Commander Garrett would both understand that."

"I'm just trying to put what's best for the people first." Bojay said.

"Colonel so are we." Natasha said, "We're not trying to fight you because we can. We're not seizing power and making our own decisions over those we already have because we can. We are trying to do what's best for our people."

"And what about the President and the Commander?" Carrie asked.

"We keep doing what we're doing. We're not saying call off the search we would never say that." Natasha said.

"Has there been any word from any of the Gunstars?" Parker asked.

Bojay shook his head, "No."

There was silence for a moment, "We the quorum and the captains of the fleet have made a decision. The Vice Presidents title will be changed to Acting Interim President and we are promoting you to acting Commander." Parker said.

"No." Bojay said.

"Excuse me?" Parker replied.

"You can call the Vice President whatever you want but I refuse the title of Commander anything."

"Maybe Captain Reynolds or Captain Manning would be better placed as acting Commander then." Parker replied.

"What?" Bojay snapped with a look of anger on his face. Carrie put her hand on his arm and he stayed in his seat.

"I can tell you for a fact Mr Jones that no officer aboard this ship would take that role." Carrie said.

"Mr Jones please refrain from saying anything like that again. Colonel Johnson will remain in command of this ship under whatever rank he wishes." Natasha replied trying to defuse the situation.

"My apologies." Parker said.

"And how long before you change from being "acting" President to actual President?" Bojay asked.

"Colonel that's not something we've even discussed and have no plans too." Natasha replied trying to defuse the situation.

Bojay stood up, "Call yourselves whatever you want I really don't care. Colonise that planet, don't colonise that planet I really don't care there anymore either. I will continue to get this ship ready for battle and for the search and no matter what the Gunstars will stay on the search for our missing people for as long as it takes to find them. Now if you'll excuse me I have to go, Miss Spence from now on is free to make any decisions on my behalf in these meetings. She knows my thoughts on all matters and I trust her completely. If there is anything she is ever unsure of I'm only a phone call away. She speaks for the Battlestar Orion. Good afternoon."

Before anyone could respond Bojay was out of the door.

"Well that could have gone better." Natasha said.

"It was going better until Mr Jones mentioned removing him from command. I need you all to hear me when I say this ship and its crew are loyal to Colonel Johnson no matter what. If you don't know how it works there or the people onboard then none of you could understand that. I can't recommend enough that you do not push him too far. As far as he is concerned President Vents and Commander Garrett left him with orders that he will follow until his dying day and no one can convince him otherwise of that. He's a good man and I can't stress that enough." Carrie said.

"Thank you Miss Spence." Natasha said, "Now onto the business of colonisation."

Bojay didn't know where he was walking. He had tried to remain civil. All he wanted to do was punch Parker Jones very hard in the face but he had managed to stay calm. He stopped when he realised he was out side one of the gyms. He walked inside and took off his jacket as he walked up to one of the punch bags and started to take out all his frustrations on it.

"You okay there Bojay?" Jawbreaker asked as he lifted weights.

"Mother fraking quorum." Bojay replied as he continued to punch.

"You should really put some gloves on there." Jawbreaker replied.

"Threaten to remove me from command the mother fraker."

"They did what?" Jawbreaker exclaimed, "You know we're behind you 100%."

Bojay did one last punch as hard as he could and heard a crack as he did.

"Mother fraker." He shouted as he realised he had broken his hand. He turned and realised everyone in the room had stopped what they were doing and were looking right at him.

"You broken your hand?" Jawbreaker asked.

Bojay nodded in reply.

"Were they serious when they said about removing you from command?" he asked.

Bojay shook his head, "No it was just an hollow threat, I think. The Vice President calmed it down straight away. Get this they want to promote me to Commander and her to President."

"Tell me they're not calling off the search?" Jawbreaker asked.

"No and it would have to be over my dead body if they did. I'm telling you if they ever pull that trick we're out of here and we'll search by ourselves." Bojay said.

"I hear that," Jawbreaker said, "Now can I recommend you go to sickbay?" he said pointing at Bojay's already swollen and bruised hand.

"I think that might be a good idea." Bojay replied.

….

Two months and nothing, not even any Cylons. Archangel thought as he walked through the corridors of the Cryxus. Despite his need to find the commander he was starting to feel at home on the Gunstar. He got on well with his XO and the crew, they had even got to the stage where they were all comfortable enough to have a laugh and a joke while they were on duty. As he walked onto the CIC his XO Lieutenant Walker met him.

"Anything to report?" Archangel asked.

"Raptors reported back they haven't found anything. I cleared them in for a rest as they've been out for twelve hours." Walker replied.

"No problem." Archangel replied.

"We've also had a couple of strange dradis blips."

"Define strange." Archangel replied.

"It's almost though for less than a second we're getting a ship on dradis and then suddenly it's gone."

"Has anyone run a diagnostic on the dradis console?"

"Yes and there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with it."

"Is our FTL spooled?" Archangel asked.

"Same as always." Walker replied.

"Good, just in case it's someone we don't want to come into contact with."

Bria was exhausted. She'd had barely any sleep in four days, not only was she looking forward to her bed she was looking forward to a day off. As she walked into her quarters she threw her flight helmet onto the sofa and unzipped her flight suit. Skeeter smiled as he walked over to her and gave her a kiss.

"Hey." He said.

"Hey," she replied, "Busy day?"

"Not in the slightest, the marines are giving me a grand total of nothing to do. I found myself making some repairs on the hanger bay earlier. What about you?"

"I'm exhausted," she replied, "All I want to do is crawl into bed and sleep for a long time."

"No problem I'll go and try and get a game of pyramid." Skeeter replied.

"I'm sorry I don't mean to drive you away." Bria said.

"You're not driving me away, you need your sleep, you have an important job. Let me know when you're awake we can get something to eat."

"Okay," she replied kissing him, "Thank you."

As Skeeter left the room Bria crawled into her bed and was asleep within minutes. As Skeeter began to walk Grace met him.

"Mind if I walk with you?" Grace asked.

"Not at all. How are you today?" Skeeter asked.

"I'm good, you?" Grace replied.

"Bored but other than that I can't complain."

"I have to admit that not much has been happening in sick bay. There are only so many times I can check through all the supplies."

Skeeter let out a laugh, "I've taken to doing whatever mechanical repairs I can find. How's Archangel, I've not seen much of him."

"He's fine. Hell bent on finding the Commander."

"That sounds about right."

"Honestly I thought by this stage he would have gone off the deep end but he's holding it together well."

"I saw him the other day with all the star charts in the mess, I was going to go talk to him but he seemed to be very engrossed."

"He's been like that every day. Checking over where we've already been and everywhere we need to go. I think he has the next ten jumps planned out already."

Skeeter laughed.

"He's not been the easiest to talk to at times." Grace said.

Skeeter could tell by her tone that something was on her mind.

"You know you can talk to me if you need too." Skeeter said.

Grace started to say something but stopped herself. Skeeter stopped.

"What is it? You can tell me."

"Something is different." Grace replied.

"What do you mean?"

"Something has happened out there. I think someone has destroyed our ability to resurrect."

"Seriously?"

Grace nodded, "I'm not wired into the others but I feel different. This may sound crazy but I feel trapped, I feel mortal."

"Is that a good thing?"

"Not as far as the other Cylons are concerned. That means when we die, we die. For me though it's something else. For all this time all I've wanted was to feel human instead of Cylon and whoever did this has given me that." She smiled as she said the last part.

Skeeter hugged her, "How long have you been feeling like this?"

"Only the last couple of weeks, whatever has happened it happened recently."

"It must have been Galactica." Skeeter said.

"Or one of the others." Grace replied.

….

Galen Hunter stood looking out at the settlement that was taking shape on the planet they had come to know as Haven. He was pleased with how things were progressing, there had been no fighting or bad feelings from the people who hadn't been NCO and found themselves here. He turned and smiled as his right hand man John walked up to him.

"They have started to put a council together as they had been talking about." 1 said.

"Are you really sure that's such a good idea?" Galen replied.

1 nodded, "Yes. They feel they have some kind of control over what goes on. They have asked if you would come to the first official meeting this evening. They want to put you in charge I think."

Galen smiled again, "Excellent."

"Have you spoken to Vents about having him speak to the people and give you his support?" 1 asked.

"I've spoken to him but as of now he is still being as stubborn as he always has been."

"Have you thought about making him talk?" 1 asked.

"You mean torture?" Galen asked sounding surprised.

"No I do not believe that would work at all on him. But we could threaten to torture someone he cares about."

"Ah you mean the commander."

"Yes I do. We threaten her with either torture or death and I'm sure he will come round to our way of thinking."

"You know that's not a bad idea. I can't believe I hadn't thought of it before."

They stopped talking as a young woman walked up to them.

"Sorry for interrupting." She said smiling at the two men.

"Not at all. How may I help you?" Galen replied with a fake smile on his face.

"I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you for finding us a home, thank you for delivering on your promises. I wasn't part of your movement before but I am so glad I was fortunate enough to be on one of the ships who had seen the light."

"That means a lot." Galen replied shaking her hand.

….

Bojay walked onto the CIC with his hand in a fresh cast supporting his broken hand.

"So it's true." Reynolds said.

"Yeah it's true. I got too angry and needed to vent." Bojay replied feeling stupid.

"You got it out of your system?"

Bojay nodded.

"Good." Reynolds replied with a smile, "Want to tell me what happened?"

"Just the quorum. You know I've never had any interest in being anywhere near politics and now that I am my gods I miss just being a Raptor jock."

Reynolds laughed.

"I don't know how the commander does it." Bojay replied.

"Well usually she has to deal with President Vents and he is much easier to deal with."

"You know I think if we'd had a man like him before the attack we wouldn't have had half the problems we did."

"The benefits of a man who served in the military." Reynolds said.

"Damn right," Bojay replied, "You know before the attack I was in a bar on Caprica and I got talking to this guy who was also in the military. Young kid Colonel Wallace I think his name was. Anyway once you stripped away all the crap he had some pretty spot on opinions about the government. He thought we needed a change at the top no matter what the cost, to put someone in charge who would leave the military to it and not interfere all the time. You know the more I talked to him the more I felt he was hinting at a coo against the government. I mean don't get me wrong he was a real asshole but he was spot on about somethings. I'm sure if he could have seen President Vents he would have been happier than he was with Adar. It just feels that we're taking steps backwards, back to how we were before the attack."

"The sooner we find the rest of the fleet the better." Reynolds added.

"Exactly." Bojay replied.

….

"There," Walker exclaimed, "Did you see that?"

"I did." Archangel replied looking at the dradis monitor.

"That's the third time in the same place."

"Who do we have out on CAP?" Archangel asked.

"Poet and Sober." Walker replied.

"Put me through to Poet." Archangel replied.

Lieutenant Claire "Poet" Thompson sat in her viper leading the CAP. She had gained her call sign from all the poetry she used to come up with while flying her bird.

"Poet this is Cryxus actual do you hear me?" Archangel asked.

"Actual this is Poet what can I do for you?" she asked.

"Did you see the dradis blip?" Archangel asked.

"Yes sir, that's the second one since we've been out here." She replied.

"I want you and Sober to fly ahead and check it out."

"But there's nothing there Major." Poet replied.

"Call it a hunch. We're coming with you so we've got your back."

"Yes sir." Poet replied, "You with me Sober?"

Lieutenant Barry "Sober" Marshall sat in the viper flying at her wing, "I'm on your six."

"Lets go check out the blip." Poet replied.

"What are you thinking?" Walker asked.

"Not sure, it's probably nothing but if it happens again I just want to know that it is nothing. How long has it been between blips?"

"A couple of hours." Walker replied.

"Okay I want to sit here for a little while." Archangel replied, "It can't hurt."

"Famous last words." Walker replied nervously.

….

Wedge piloted a raptor out of Orion. Carrie sat in the seat next to him.

"Where are we going?" Carrie asked.

"You'll see." Wedge replied.

"Should I be worried?" Carrie asked with a smile.

"Not at all. I want to show you something on the planet."

"How did you manage to persuade Bojay to give me the evening off?" Carrie asked.

"Bojay's a good friend plus he owes me from a game of triad that he lost. He loves to think he's great at cards but he really really isn't. It's almost like taking advantage of him." Wedge said with a chuckle.

Carrie laughed, "Well whatever it is it'll be nice to spend the evening together."

Wedge flew the raptor through the atmosphere. Through the clouds they could see the continent below and it looked amazing. They could see all the people on the surface who were gathering supplies as well as the small mines that had been dug in order to get at metal ore under the surface. Wedge flew the raptor right over them and kept going. Carrie watched the ground change below them from fields of lush green grass to a large lake, that was where Wedge began to slow and eventually put down the bird. As the back hatch opened Carrie looked in amazement at the beautiful view of fields and mountains that surrounded them.

"Oh my gods this is beautiful." Carrie said.

"You've not seen the best bit yet." Wedge replied taking her hand and leading her out.

They both walked down to a small patch of sand that over looked the lake. Carrie looked in amazement as she saw what Wedge had done. There was a fire pit that he had dug and was filled with wood as well as a blanket on the ground with a chiller full of food and drink and cushions for them to sit on. There was also a large tent that Wedge had put up.

"I thought we could use some time to ourselves. I've checked the scans and we're going to have a beautiful warm clear night. We've got a fire and I've pulled in a lot of favours and got all your favourite foods."

Carrie kissed Wedge, "Thank you." She said with a smile.

"I know how down you've been and I know how much you miss your brother and with the amount of work you have to do. I thought it would be nice to just have an evening where we pretend nothing else is going on at all."

"This is perfect." Carrie said before kissing the man she loved again.

….

It had been an hour and everyone aboard the Cryxus CIC was quietly watching the dradis monitors.

"Dradis contact." A voice called out.

An unknown blip appeared before their eyes. Moments later a colonial transponder kicked in.

"Report." Archangel said.

"Colonial transponders, it says Scopestar Medlia." Walker replied.

"What? Challenge hostile ID." Archangel replied.

"This is the Gunstar Cryxus to the ship claiming to be the Scopestar Medlia verify your colonial ID or we will fire on you." Lieutenant Walker said over the COM.

The next few moments seemed to last an eternity while they waited. Then all the information flashed up in front of them.

"It's them." Walker said, "We have their actual on the line."

Archangel picked up his headset and spoke, "This is Major Mark Hunter of the Gunstar Cryxus who am I speaking with?"

"Major Hunter this is Major Adam Lewthwaite of the Scopestar Medlia, it's good to hear your voice, we thought we were the only ones left." Came the reply.

"Good to hear your voice too Major it's my pleasure to inform you that you are not alone, we have a fleet. Would you like to come aboard to we can talk face to face?"

"I'll be there shortly." Came the reply before the line went dead.

"I've never even heard of a Scopestar." Walker said.

"I only heard rumours a couple of years ago, it wasn't going to be government approved so they were kept quiet." Archangel replied, "Want to come meet their CO?"

"I'd love too."

The Cryxus already packed hanger deck was bustling with crewmembers waiting to catch a glimpse of the Medlia's commanding officer. They all watched as a raptor was brought up to the hanger deck. Moments later as it came to a halt the side hatch opened and out there stood a very tall very young looking officer.

"Permission to come aboard." The young man asked.

"Permission granted." Archangel replied.

The young man walked down the side stopped in front of the Cryxus crew and saluted. After saluting back Archangel shook the mans hand.

"Welcome aboard." Archangel said with a smile.

"Good to be here. You're the first people we've seen in a very long time. We thought we were the only ones left."

"I take it your ship is the reason we've been getting dradis blips all day?" Lieutenant Walker asked.

"Yes we were making sure you were colonial before we revealed ourselves."

"Come on lets go get a drink." Archangel said, "We have a lot to talk about."

Archangel, Walker and Major Lewthwaite also known as "Short stack" sat in the Cryxus' wardroom drinking a glass of whiskey and talking.

"Sounds like you've been on one hell of a journey." Short stack said.

"It's had its moments." Archangel replied, "So tell us about what happened with you guys."

"I was assigned to the Medlia for her test flights. The ship is state of the art, we were going out for a couple of months to make sure everything worked perfectly before we revealed the ship to Adar. She's an impressive piece of kit. Her jump drive can jump the ship three times further than the best Battlestar FTL. The dradis package is incredible. The ship was designed so that it could jump into an enemy fleet or enemy system take all the readings it needed and then jump back out before they even knew what was going on. An AI runs the ship and that was the initial problem and reason why it was kept so quiet. With the ban on that sort of tech it broke every rule in the book. But it was so advanced it was believed it would be able to outthink or outsmart any Cylons it came up against." Short stack said.

"And can it?" Archangel asked.

"After we first got back we found that by accident we had jumped into the middle of a Cylon armada. While they didn't have chance to get a shot off before we jumped back out they did try and infect us with a virus. Our AI identified it and not only did it block it, it came up with it's own defences against it in case it came into contact with it again in the future."

"That's impressive." Walker said.

"What about weaponry and armour?" Archangel asked.

"Well that's the thing we could hold off a few raiders or maybe even a few missiles but the ship wasn't designed to fight."

"So was she going to be yours after the test flights?" Walker asked.

"No I was solely there for the test run. None of the crew were supposed to be. Aside from me the only other military crewmembers are the handful of pilots we have. Everyone else are civilian engineers or technicians. We came across a civilian science station that the Cylons hadn't bothered with about a month or so after the initial attack. We were able to refill our supplies and take the thirty scientists and fifteen students that were onboard and integrate them into our crew. For people who were never supposed to be a permanent crew my guys have done really well, they have really risen to the challenge. We have a total of 350 raptors and 30 vipers a lot of which have never been off the hanger deck because we don't have the people to crew them."

"You've done really well managing to stay alive for so long with what you have." Archangel said.

"We've avoided everyone we've found like the plague till we found you." Short stack replied.

"You've found others?" Walker asked.

"Initially it was just Cylons and we knew we couldn't fight them. About eight months ago we found a fleet of pirates who had managed to survive."

"Eastern Alliance?" Archangel asked.

Short stack nodded, "We were with them for less than a day before we decided to go it alone."

"That probably saved your lives." Archangel said.

"I honestly thought that with it being the end of the world and with what had happened to the human race it made have made them friendlier to people but they were still the same."

"Have you found any other military?" Walker asked.

"We found signs. We've found wreckage from battles, you guys and the Battlestars Galactica and Pegasus. We jumped into one system just as another battle fleet jumped out. We were able to identify the Battlestar Icarus before they were gone, they will have had no idea we were even there."

The Icarus was a name Archangel had been dreading for a long time now. They really didn't want to come face to face with Admiral Lionel Garrett after what they had done to the Olympus and what the Admiral had personally done to his daughter down the years. Archangel had even put certain plans to effect in case they ever did come up against them. Plans that currently if they found them he would not be able to implement without certain people aboard Orion.

"So I think the question is where do you want us to start searching for your missing fleet?" Short stack asked.

"I don't." Archangel replied.

"But the Medlia is the perfect ship for that!" Short stack replied.

"Oh I agree but I want you to go and rendezvous with Orion and the rest of our fleet. Colonel Johnson needs to know about you and he'll be able to help you crew your ship to maximum." Archangel said.

"Am I going to loose my command?" Short stack asked.

"No. For better or worse that is your ship now, you know it better than anyone else. You just need to bolster your crew so it can function properly. I'll write you a note for the Colonel if that is okay, we haven't been in contact for two months."

"Of course." Short stack replied.

…

"Well?" Galen Hunter asked.

Milo looked at the man as though he wanted to choke the life from him.

"You have some time to think about it. By this time tomorrow I want to stand along side you in front of our people and I want you to tell them that you support what I am doing here."

"And what about when they ask how I got here?" Milo replied.

"You tell them you've been here all along but you've needed to see the proof of what we've done. Milo I am going to be addressing the people tomorrow regardless. As soon as I begin to speak my people are going to start to torture Vanessa and whether you're with me or not you'll have an earpiece so you can hear every second of it. Until you take the stage with me and tell the people what I've said they will continue to torture her. So at the end of the day you have two things to your consider. Is your hatred of me stronger than you friendship and love of the Commander?" Galen smiled as he said it, "I'm going to be frank with you Milo if you don't do as I ask then poor Vanessa will be begging for death by the time my guys finish with her."

"So you leave me no choice." Milo said.

"Now that is good to hear Milo, you're making the right choice. And just so you know you will still have an ear piece so if you back out of if you say what you really think to the people then you will hear her die in the most slow and painful way my men can think of at that time do you understand me?"

Milo nodded.

Galen smiled and stood up to leave.

"Are you happy now you have what you want?" Milo asked.

"Ecstatic," Galen replied, "Everything has happened exactly as we planned, well not exactly because never in my wildest dreams did I expect for you and Vanessa to be here, that was just a bonus. For everything I did for the people before the attacks and all the things I continue to do I deserve this."

"I hope when all the dust settles and this is over you remember what you just said because as your son stands over you with a smoking gun in his hand you will most certainly deserve it."

Galen laughed, "We'll see." He said as he left the room.

"Well?" 1 asked as he met them outside.

"It worked, he's going to say everything we tell him in order to save Garrett." Galen replied.

1 despite himself was a little relieved to hear this, he did not want the commander to die, "I expected that it would. He's a predictable man."

"How has Captain Pike been behaving himself?" Galen asked.

"I spoke to Jacob this morning, he continues to keep his head down. He's too fraking scared to do anything else." 1 said.

"John my friend this is all working perfectly." Galen said with a smile.

1 smiled back, "It most certainly is."

A few hours later Galen sat with the new council as the meeting got underway. Ten men and women of varying ages who had been key in helping set up the settlement so far. Winston Dallas a seventy three year old former minor and mayor of a small town on Picon stood up. He has been chosen as the speaker and the voice of the council.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen. First of all we would like to thank Mr Hunter for coming to our meeting this evening, after all it is because of him that we are here. We have plenty of things to discuss this evening. Firstly I am pleased to say that the sanitation and sewage station is finally online and our food production plant is well on the way to being the same way. Mr Hunter it is the people who chose us and asked us to sit on this council and represent them. We represent the common humble man and woman of the survivors. There have been many discussions in private and in public about a leadership for the people. Someone to take charge and lead us with the dignity, strength and compassion that so many of our leaders always seem to lack. We have asked you here because the people want you to take that roll. Whether it be in the name of President or whichever other title we and you find appropriate."

Galen managed to act surprised and touched by what he had just heard, "Ladies and gentlemen of the council I am so very truly touched and moved beyond words by your kind gesture. I want you all to know that I didn't take this action to bring you all here for personal gain or for myself. I know you all know of the horrific crimes I and the other members of the NCO were accused of and I am humbled to be in the presence of people of such calibre who know false and slanderous stories when they hear them. I humbally accept your offer as I want to help you build a world and society that our people deserve. I hope that my years of running my own tylium company will help me in the ways of leading people. Thank you so very very much."

The rest of the council began to clap as Galen sat down smug in self-satisfaction.

….

Bojay and Captain Reynolds stood on Orion's CIC with Major Lewthwaite. To say it had been a shock when the Medlia had appeared would be the understatement of the century.

"We can have your ship re supplied and crewed by the morning and then you can go join the search." Bojay said.

"Thank you sir." Short stack replied.

"I can't believe the luck of you guys turning up now when we need a ship like this the most." Reynolds added.

"I know it's like the fates aligned." Short stack replied.

"So Major do you think all your current crew will want to stay in their positions?" Bojay asked.

"Honestly I don't know. Until now I don't think they've even thought about a life that wasn't on that ship, now an entire civilian fleet has opened up their options. I'm sure at least some of the students who were on a field trip at the science station when the attack happened will want to go into the fleet. Hell with a ship like the Columbus they might even look to move over there."

"Well we have extra crew as we found the Olympus a while back and then had to accommodate their crew so there should be no problem in staffing your ship." Bojay said.

"Colonel if it's okay with you I'd just like to take a wander around Orion before I head back to the Medlia. It's been so long since I was on a Battlestar that it's nice being back aboard one, there may even be people here that I know."

"Of course feel free." Bojay replied.

"Major may I ask what Battlestar were you last stationed too?" Reynolds asked.

"The Victorious." He replied.

"Good Battlestar, good CO." Bojay replied.

"Yes sir Admiral Tolan is or was one hell of a man." Short stack replied.

….

As the sun set Wedge and Carrie sat looking up at the stars with a fire roaring in front of them.

"You know I always wanted to live in a house next to a lake." Carrie said.

"When we do find somewhere to live I'll build you one." Wedge replied.

Carrie smiled, "I'll hold you to that. You know being here now kind of makes you wish we had a planet we could live on."

"I know what you mean," Wedge replied, "Scuttlebutt is the Vice President wants it to be this one."

"Scuttlebutt is correct," Carrie replied, "Bojay has given up on that. He told them to make whatever plans they want. I still think he's holding out on one of the gunstars finding the rest of the fleet."

"That's what we all hope." Wedge replied.

"Do you think anyone on Orion would want to stay here?" Carrie asked.

"No." Wedge replied.

"Really? As cut and dry as that?"

"You didn't see New Caprica. They built themselves a life, a new civilisation and then the Cylons came. What they did to those people was horrific."

"So you agree we shouldn't find a home until the Cylons are gone?"

"I do." Wedge replied.

"That could take an awful long time." Carrie said.

"I'm sure it will but in the meantime we need to live for moments like these." Wedge replied.

"We've come a long way since our first date." Carrie said with a little laugh.

Wedge smiled, "We most certainly have. You know I thought your brother was going to kill me for that."

Carrie laughed, "I put him straight on that one. Anyway you're his friend and he knew that it wasn't your fault."

"Hey if nothing else you got to junk your first toaster." Wedge said laughing.

"So here's something I've never asked. How many kills have you made?"

"Eighty seven." Wedge replied.

"That's a lot."

"There are people who have taken out a lot more than me."

"My brother?"

"For one. He's taken out countless toasters on the ground as well as one hundred and forty three raiders."

"Wow that is a lot."

"If I could fly like your brother mine would be a lot higher as well." Wedge replied laughing.

"Is he really that good?"

"I've seen a lot of good pilots, I don't mean to blow my own trumpet but I'm pretty good myself but your brother, the things I've seen him do sat in that cockpit I never thought were possible. His reputation is well earned."

"When I first heard that I thought someone was joking."

"Hell no every pilot in the fleet knew who he was by reputation. The best of the best. You ask him about it and he won't answer. The man has no ego that I've seen. You should be very proud of your brother."

"I am, I'm very proud of both of you. He thinks very highly of you."

"That's nice to know. Really it is. You know he'll be back."

"I know. I just miss him a lot."

THE NEXT DAY

Milo Vents walked into what until recently had been his office. He had cleaned up and looked presentable for the first time in months. He hated the thought of what he was about to do but knew that he had to in order to save the Commander. He sat down in front of a video camera, there was another empty chair next to him. The door opened and Galen Hunter walked in followed by his aide John and some of his security.

"Good afternoon Milo, I trust you are feeling well?" Galen asked with a smile.

"Lets just get this over with." Milo replied.

"Fair enough, I trust you're good with autocue?" Galen asked.

"I've used it before."

"Good good, because I've taken the liberty of scripting what I want you to say. Oh and just so it's not a big surprise for you the people have asked me to be their leader or president or whatever you want to call it." He smiled as he spoke.

"So you'll keep your word and you won't hurt Vanessa?" Milo said.

"Milo that wasn't the deal. The deal was that if you said what we told you to then we would stop torturing her." Galen replied taking an earpiece from his pocket and throwing it to Milo, "Go ahead take a listen."

Milo took the earpiece and put it into his ear. Immediately he could hear screams of pain and agony and her knew it was the Commander.

"You son of a bitch." Milo said.

"Shall we get started?" Galen replied.

Milo went to take the earpiece out.

"No Milo keep it in, I want you to hear every scream, and hopefully it will help you find the motivation to be a one hit wonder."

Milo wanted to kill the man smiling at him. It took every ounce of will power he had not to choke the man to death.

Galen sat next to him, "Lets get this show on the road."

Milo tried to ignore the screams of pain coming from his friend.

"We're rolling." A voice said quietly.

"My friends firstly I want to say how happy I am that you all love your new home. It makes me realise all the hard work in getting you here was so worthwhile. I met with your council last night, some of whom I was meeting for the first time, led by Mr Winston Dallas they truly are a group of inspiring people. They informed me that you the people have told them you wish for me to continue leading you. This is a great honour, one that I have accepted and one that I do not take lightly. I will continue to strive to make this world everything you deserve. Now there is a truth that I must tell you, one that until recently I decided that I must keep from you, for that I apologise. Your former president, Mr Milo Vents is in the fleet with us. Before we left the rest of the fleet I was fortunate enough to be able to speak with him, we spoke at length about a great many things and it turns out that he wanted to join us. All of the accusations that were hurled at me and the people of the NCO had come from the Battlestar Orion. While Mr Vents was the president it was only in name, Commander Garrett was the one calling the shots. With the threat of Orion either destroying the fleet Mr Vents had no choice but to go along with the power hungry woman at the top. Mr Vents is here with me now and he has something that he would like to say to you." Galen said.

The camera zoomed out to show Milo sitting there, as he began to spoke he could still hear the tears and screams of Vanessa in his ear.

"People of the new fleet and the planet Haven, I sit here before you today as one of you, the New Colonial Order. I apologise for taking so long to come out of the shadows. I felt ashamed for my part in what had happened before but now I sit here to condemn our former military dictator and her power hungry motives. I am pleased that you are free and I only wish the rest of the civilian fleet could have seen the light and joined you. It is my hope that one day they will be able to flee their oppressors and find their way to us so we can be the survivors of humanity together. I am pleased that you have chosen a man so worthy as Galen Hunter to be your leader and look after you in the days to come. I pledge my services and experience to him in the hope that they will help him with what he needs to do. I am Milo Vents and I, like you, am NCO."

As he finished speaking the camera stopped recording.

"You see now that wasn't so hard was it?" Galen asked.

"Now your end of the bargain." Milo replied.

Galen nodded over to 1 who spoke into a radio. Moments later the screams stopped but Milo could still hear Vanessa's cries.

"As I promised, see I am a man of my word. You may not believe me but I really do want these people to have a nice home, somewhere they can thrive." Galen said

"Just as long as you're the boss?" Milo said.

"Exactly Milo, exactly."

"So when are you going to broadcast that video?" Milo asked.

"I'm not." Galen replied.

"What?" Milo said in surprise. Everyone's expressions showed they were as surprised by this as Milo.

"I wanted to see how far I could push you before you'd do what I wanted. I don't need your words of support, the people already love me." Galen smiled, "One day I'll let you take a look down there at what we have achieved. In two months they are already further ahead that I ever expected."

"You son of a bitch." Milo said.

"Now there's no need to be like that." Galen replied.

"You're insane."

Galen backhanded Milo across the face knocking him off his chair.

"I am not crazy." Galen snarled, "Get this piece of shit out of my sight."

Two of Galen's security team picked him up and dragged him out of the office.

"Was that really necessary?" 1 asked.

"Don't you turn on me as well. I've been fighting the urge not to punch him for a very long time." Galen snapped back.

"I'm not talking about punching Milo Vents, I couldn't care less what happens to him, Commander Garrett didn't deserve what those men will have done to her." 1 replied. He truly meant the words he was saying.

"You're getting soft in your old age my friend. She's tough, she'll be fine." Galen replied with a smile.

For the first time 1 saw what Milo had said, Galen was starting to slip or maybe he had always been like this and had been better at hiding it. 1 could see a man capable of anything at any moment and it worried him.


	25. Hope Part 2

3 MONTHS LATER

Archangel sat alone in the Gunstar Cryxus' wardroom. Star charts are strewn across all the tables as well as empty mugs of coffee and a half drunk bottle of whiskey. The last few months had been infuriating. He had sent his raptors out as far spread as he could to check as many systems as possible and still nothing. No signs of the NCO and not even any sign of any Cylons. He had found himself getting more short tempered with the crew as well so he had locked himself away to see if he could find anything he was missing. He looked up as he heard a knock at the door and saw Lieutenant Walker standing there.

"Can I come in?" Walker asked.

"Of course, you don't need to ask." Archangel replied.

"Have you found anything new?" Walker asked.

"Plenty but nowhere we can get too before we have to go back and join with the fleet for a refuel and supplies." Archangel replied, "But some good places to start from when we come back."

"The Medlia has been and gone." Walker said.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"They were just here for a few moments with an update before they continued their search. They've rendezvoused with the other Gunstars and they've had about as much luck as we have."

"Frak." Archangel said throwing a mug against the wall smashing it, "Sorry."

"It's okay." Walker replied.

"How long till we start heading back?" Archangel asked.

"The raptors will be back in six hours and then we make our move back to the others."

Archangel ran his hands through his hair, "I'm sorry I've been such an arse over the last couple of months."

Walker let out a little laugh, "You've been a lot more restrained than I thought you would be."

"I have to find her." Archangel said, "I have to find them."

"We will." Walker said, "If you need anything I'll be on the CIC." Walker said.

"Thank you."

As Walker walked out of the room Archangel noticed Grace standing in the doorway.

"Hey." He said with a smile.

Grace smiled back and walked in.

"I haven't seen you in two days." She said.

"I'm sorry I got so engrossed in these star charts looking for places we haven't been yet."

"The whole crew is looking for them you don't have to lock yourself away like this."

"I need to find them." Archangel replied.

"Really because I'm sure a few moments ago I thought I heard you say I need to find her."

"Of course I need to find her just as much as I need to find the President and everyone else."

"Are you in love with her?" Grace asked.

"What? Why would you say that?"

"Because it's the truth, I've known it for a while now, I've known something was different about you since we were reunited." Grace said.

"I love you." Archangel said.

"I know and I love you but you love her as well. If I hadn't come back would you be with her?" Grace asked as a tear fell from her eye.

"No I wouldn't. We were together very briefly, we weren't even really together." Archangel replied.

"Once we find them and we get back to the rest of the fleet I'm going to transfer to the Medstar."

"No there's no reason for you to do that. I love you, I want to be with you that's all I've ever wanted. There is nothing between us, nothing at all you have to believe that."

Grace stood silently.

"When have I ever lied to you or given you reason to believe that I have lied to you?"

"Never." Grace replied.

"Then believe me now. It's you and me against the world. I have to do this though, I have to find them and I have to end what my father started."

Grace nodded her head, "Okay."

Archangel kissed her and hugged her, "I love you." He whispered.

"I love you too."

….

Bojay stood on the CIC drinking his morning tea. It had been a slow moving few months. Repairs to Orion were virtually complete and then he had the tough conversation with the Vice President that he would be taking Orion to join in the search, that wasn't something he was looking forward too.

"Colonel the Vice President is on the line." Lieutenant Phillips said.

Bojay sighed to himself, looks like it was starting early today, "Put her through down here."

"Yes sir."

Bojay took a deep breath before picking up the handset, "Madame Vice President."

He could almost hear her grit her teeth on the other end of the line. Since the day she had been "promoted" to Acting President he had called her by what he thought was her proper title, mainly to remind her that they were still searching for the President and Commander every day.

"Commander." She replied knowing that pissed him off as much as calling her Vice President did.

"What can I do for you today?" Bojay asked.

"I was calling to see if any of the Gunstars had returned yet with any news?" she said on the other end.

"Nothing yet, we're not expecting them till this afternoon."

"Would you let me know if they have any news?"

"Of course." Bojay replied.

"How long will it be before they go back out to continue searching?" Natasha asked.

"As soon as they are resupplied and fuelled. There may be crew members that need to be rotated, we'll have to wait and see." He wanted to tell her he intended on sending Orion out as well but decided against it, "Is there anything else Madame Vice President?" he smiled as he said those words.

"No Commander, I shall look forward to hearing from you." Natasha replied.

Bojay chuckled as he put the handset down. When he saw Mike Campbell walk back into his side room Bojay followed him in.

"Anything to report?" Bojay asked.

"No." Mike replied. Bojay could tell the young genius was getting extremely frustrated, "I thought I would have something by now but nothing."

"You're doing a good job I appreciate everything you're doing I know this must be testing for you."

"This is the most frustrating, infuriating thing I've ever been part of. The only thing that has kept me sane is the thought that I could help find them." Mike replied.

"When we do find them I'll make sure the Commander and President know how much you did to find them." Bojay replied, "Today is going to be a busy day but if you need anything you let me know."

"Strawberry liquorice would be great about now." Mike replied.

"I'll see what I can do." Bojay replied with a chuckle.

….

Haven was bustling with life. The first settlement had come together better than anyone could have imagined over just five months. Galen Hunter walked along the streets greeting people as he passed. While he didn't live on the planet he enjoyed coming down and surveying all "his" land. He was very satisfied with what he had achieved all the lies and deaths in his opinion were well and truly worth it. He stopped and watched children playing with a Pyramid ball in front of him, two little boys and a girl. They reminded him of his children when they were young, when they were still unaffected by the world and the horrors that would befall them.

Commander Garrett sat alone beaten and bloodied. She had no idea of how long she had been in that small room all the days had merged into one long mess of tears and screams. For as long as she could she had lived in hope that Orion would be coming for her, that any time now the door would burst open and Archangel would run in and save her from the nightmare that seemed to be never ending. This mornings beating had been one of the most brutal she had had in what she assumed was weeks. The men had dragged her from her bed by her left arm and the pain she was still feeling from it was some of the worst she had endured. She knew it wasn't broken or dislocated by she was sure there was muscular damage. She dreaded the thought of looking at herself in the mirror, at seeing what they had done to her. She knew there were at least five cuts on her face, she expected that it would be one massive bruise. She looked at her uniform in the corner of the tiny room and reached over for her jacket. She looked at the Commander rank pips on the collar and cried. Being on Orion seemed like such a long time ago now. She looked at her senior office wings and touched them. With her good arm she unclipped them and held them in her hand looking down at them for a moment. She was on the brink and knew she couldn't take another beating, at least it was only beatings she thought for a moment. She had been terrified things would have been much worse when this had all started but she was grateful her worst nightmares hadn't been realised. She took a deep breath and knew what she had to do. She took three quick deep breaths before plunging the sharp edge into her wrist cutting deep enough to do what she wanted. Vanessa tried to do the same with the other wrist but her left arm didn't have the strength to do what needed to be done. She dropped the wings and sat there waiting for the end. Vanessa looked down at the blood as it poured out of her wrist.

"I love you Mark Hunter." She said under her breath, "I'm coming mom."

The door to the tiny room opened and in walked 1.

"Oh my god." He said to himself as he ran the short distance over to her, "What have you done?" he said as he picked up her jacket and put pressure on the nasty wound.

"Just let me go." Vanessa pleaded.

"Somebody get a medic in here now!" John yelled, "I'm sorry Commander, I'm sorry I haven't been able to save you from what they did to you."

He looked down at the broken woman, the only human woman he could say he liked in any way.

….

Two of the four Gunstars had returned. The Serenity had managed to find one of the planets the Olympus had discovered but it hadn't been the right one. Bojay paced back and forwards on the CIC.

"You're giving me a headache." Reynolds said.

"Sorry." Bojay replied standing still, "If only we had those fraking co-ordinates."

"I thought Mike might have been able to piece them together by now." Reynolds replied.

"I had hoped." Bojay replied.

"Dradis contact." Phillips said, "It's the Onyx."

"I knew the Cryxus would be last." Reynolds said.

"So did I." Bojay replied, "Mr Phillips please get Captain Harrowman on the horn."

"He already is Colonel." Phillips replied.

Bojay and Reynolds both picked up their handsets.

"Gunstar Onyx this is Colonel Johnson report." Bojay said.

"Good to hear your voice Colonel," Harrowman said over the COM, "I'm afraid there's no good news we haven't found squat."

"That makes three for three so far." Reynolds replied.

"Very well Captain good to have you back. We'll have a meeting when the Cryxus returns." Bojay said.

"Yes sir." Harrowman replied before the line cut off.

"Come on Archangel it's all on you." Bojay said to himself.

….

Carrie sat listening to the Vice President or Acting President as she liked to be referred to now as she and the Quorum talked. One of the Vice President's aides walked into the room.

"Madame Acting President I've just had Lieutenant Phillips from Orion on the line, the Gunstar Onyx has just returned and they haven't found anything." The young man said.

"Thank you." Natasha said.

Waiting for the Cryxus to return so Carrie could see her brother again was making time drag so slowly.

"We need to discus where we go from here if all the news is bad." Natasha said, "Acting Commander Johnson is going to want to send the Gunstars back out as soon as he can and I get the feeling he is going to keep doing this until he finds them or we run out of fuel completely."

"If the news is bad and they haven't found anything out I suggest we begin colonisation. We may as well as it will mean another five months of just waiting here." Parker Jones said.

Carrie was sick of hearing that mans voice.

"If they come back with no news then I agree." Natasha said, "What do you think Acting Commander Johnson would say Miss Spence?"

"You have the only answer Colonel Johnson is going to give you. With all due respect he's tired of arguing with you." Carrie replied.

"Then we go ahead with it. If the news is bad." Natasha said.

….

Skeeter sat on the hanger deck of the Cryxus waiting for Bria to return. The last five months had been particularly boring for him. He couldn't blame the other marines for not giving him anything to do as they were in the same boat. He had spent a lot of his time either in the gym or getting his head around various parts of the Viper MK7. Unlike last time he had tried his hand at fixing them this time he was having success. He looked up as he heard the hydraulic lift that was about to bring Bria's raptor onto the hanger deck from below. He saw his girlfriend smile as she saw him waiting for her. He waved and she waved back. He wondered if she would be coming back out on any of the Gunstars when they relaunched after being resupplied. As the side hatch opened she walked over and gave him a kiss and hug.

"You seem happy." Skeeter said.

"Seeing you after ten hours in the cockpit always puts a smile on my face." She replied.

"Any joy out there?"

Bria shook her head, "More nothing. But I did get to see a blue sun today so that was something new."

"Sounds spectacular." Skeeter replied.

"It was I took pictures." She replied with a laugh, "I need to head up to the CIC you coming?"

"Sure."

"It should take us eleven jumps to get back." Lieutenant Walker said, "With at least a five minute wait after each jump."

"Okay if all decks are ready lets go home." Archangel replied.

"All hands this is the XO prepare to start jumps back to the fleet. Jumping in 5..4..3..2..1"

Cryxus vanished in a bright flash before reappearing on the other side of its jump.

"Jump complete." Walker said, "Begin jump prep for jump two."

….

As Vanessa began to come around she thought in that moment before she was fully awake that it had all been one long terrifying nightmare. As her eyes adjusted to her surroundings she knew it wasn't. She was still in the same tiny room and John the Cylon sat next to her bed. She looked down at her wrist and saw it was bandaged.

"It's been stitched up, please don't do that again." He said.

"Why the frak do you care?" Garrett replied groggily.

"Honestly, I don't know." He replied handing her a bottle of water. She took it from him and drank down the water making her throat feel a lot better.

"Thank you." She said.

"I've made sure that you have plenty of food and water in here." 1 said.

"Seriously why are you of all people the only one who is ever nice to me?"

"I feel for you Vanessa I really do. I couldn't give a flying frak about 99% of humans but for some reason you get under my skin."

"I want to die. I can't take any more of this. I just wish someone would come, Orion to rescue us or the Cylons to kill us I don't care which." Vanessa replied as she started to cry.

"I'm going to make sure no one comes in here to hurt you again." 1 said.

"Whatever you reasons thank you for being the only person here who is kind to me." Vanessa said.

"I have to go and see Galen and make sure this stops."

Galen had just got back into his office when 1 walked in.

"Have you seen the state of Garrett?" 1 asked.

"No." Galen replied.

"What the men are doing to her has to stop. I only just managed to stop her from killing herself." 1 replied, "She's been beaten to within an inch of her life you have to tell them to stop."

"I do do I?" Galen replied.

"Yes you do. She's no good to anyone if she's dead."

"I've never seen you so passionate about anything before. Okay I'll tell the men to leave her alone." Galen replied.

"Good, otherwise the next person I see beating her is going to get a bullet in the back of the head." 1 said before turning and heading for the door.

"John."

"What?" 1 snapped.

"I'm sorry it got so out of hand."

….

Mike had been joking when he had asked Bojay for strawberry liquorice but somehow from somewhere Bojay had managed to get it for him. He looked at the first piece of it as he held it in his hand. It had been so long since he had any, it was by far his favourite thing in the whole universe and the packet Bojay had found him would last him for at least a month it was huge. As he took the first bite out of it he heard something that caught his ear, something about the planets the Olympus had found. He stuck his head out of the door and heard Captain Reynolds talking about the deleted data from the computers. Suddenly a horrible thought hit the young man, was the missing data the coordinates for the planets? He ran over to a computer and quickly checked for the relevant data. It was gone, that was what had been deleted. Then a worse feeling hit him, he had known the coordinates all along. He put the liquorice down and took a sip from his water before composing himself and walking to the dradis console. He had a horrible feeling this was going to go badly when he told them.

"Erm Colonel Johnson, Captain Reynolds I need to talk to you both." Mike said sounding very nervous.

"Have you recovered the deleted information?" Bojay asked.

"Not exactly." Mike replied.

"What does not exactly mean?" Reynolds replied.

"You see no one told me what had been deleted or what I was looking for so I assumed that whatever it was was top secret so I didn't ask so I didn't know.."

"Get to the point." Bojay replied cutting Mike off.

"I know the coordinates of all the planets, I saw them when I was going through the ships systems and I have an eidetic memory so I never forget anything."

"And you're telling us this NOW?" Bojay said, "Why didn't you tell us this five months ago?" he yelled.

The whole CIC had gone silent, "Because no one told me what had been deleted so I didn't ask as I thought it would be top secret."

"Gods fraking dam it." Bojay yelled.

"Colonel calm down." Reynolds snapped, "It's not his fault. We now have the information so we can act on it. Mike please write down all the data you can remember and bring it back over."

"Yes captain." Mike stammered back in reply. As he walked back to his side room he listened to Captain Reynolds telling Bojay to calm down as this wasn't Mikes fault. The guilt hit him as he began to write down the coordinates of each planet. Then he the thought hit him, if Bojay had reacted like that how was Archangel going to react when he got back and found out. All the air seemed to leave the room. Mike reached into his pocket for his inhaler. He hadn't used it for months but thankfully he had remembered to take it everywhere with him. As Mike turned with the piece of paper in his hand he stopped as he saw Bojay walk into the room.

"Colonel I am so sorry." Mike said.

"Don't be. I'm sorry for how I reacted."

Mike held out the piece of paper, which Bojay took.

"You should have been told from the start, honestly I didn't realise you hadn't been."

"Still colonel I am so sorry, if anything has happened to the Commander and I could have stopped it I will never forgive myself."

"Mike, as soon as the Cryxus is back we'll go get them. It's okay." Bojay patted the young man on the shoulder and went back into the CIC. Mike stood there still shell shocked.

….

"Jump prep complete we're ready for the final jump." Walker said.

"Gods I hope someone has some good news." Archangel replied, "Okay lets go home."

"All hands this is the XO prepare for final jump. Jumping ship in 5..4..3..2..1"

In a flash the Cryxus made its final jump back to the fleet.

"Jump complete. Dradis is full, we're back with the fleet." Walker said.

"Put me through to Orion." Archangel said.

"Channel is open." A voice replied.

"Battlestar Orion this is Gunstar Cryxus please respond." Archangel said into his headset.

"Gunstar Cryxus this is Orion XO good to see you." Bojay replied.

"Good to see you too. I'm afraid it's bad news we didn't find anything." Archangel said.

"Not to worry we have the co-ordinates for the planets." Bojay replied.

Archangel couldn't help but smile, "That is excellent news."

"Come over as soon as you can, now you're back we're having a meeting about what to do next." Bojay replied.

"I'll be there as soon as I can." Archangel replied before taking his headset off.

The rest of the CIC were all looking at Archangel and Walker as they hadn't heard what had been said.

"Please put me through to the ship." Archangel asked.

"Channel open sir." Came the reply.

"All hands this is Major Hunter. We are back with the fleet. I am pleased to inform you that while we haven't found anything Orion has the coordinates for the planets we have been looking for. I am going to Orion to plan our next move, prepare yourselves though, it won't be long before we go and get our people back." Archangel said.

"Lieutenant Walker please ask Bria to meet me in the hanger deck so we can head over to Orion. The deck is yours."

"Yes sir." Walker replied with a smile.

….

As soon as Carrie had heard the Cryxus was back she had flown straight back to Orion. She ran through the corridors till she got to the hanger deck. There were already a large number of people waiting. She pushed her way through the gathering crowd to the front next to Bojay.

"You made it back quickly." Bojay said.

"Yeah I now owe one of the shuttle pilots a favour for bringing me back so quickly." She replied, "Did he sound okay?"

"He sounded really good." Bojay replied, "How did the Vice President react to the news we have the coordinates?"

"She acted as though she was pleased but she's not that good an actress. I think she likes her position of power."

"Well it's nearly time for her to give it up."

Moments later they watched as Bria's raptor made it's way onto the hanger deck. As it came to a halt the side hatch began to open, behind it stood Archangel smiling widely.

"Permission to come aboard please sir." Archangel said.

"Permission granted." Bojay replied.

Archangel quickly got out of the Raptor followed by Grace and Skeeter and then Bria. He walked straight to his sister and hugged her.

"I've missed you." She said.

"I've missed you too." He replied.

Archangel turned to Bojay and hugged his friend.

"Mikes program worked?" Archangel asked.

"Not exactly we need to go talk about that." Bojay replied, "It's good to see you buddy."

"You too."

As everyone greeted their friends the Vice President walked onto the gangway above with two of her aides and watched the reunion below.

"So we halt our plans for colonisation?" Jonathan Fisher asked.

"For now. We don't even know if the President is still alive." Natasha replied.

"I hope he is." Jonathan said.

Natasha turned and looked at him, "So do I." She replied not knowing if she was telling the truth.

Colonel Johnson, Captain Reynolds and the other Gunstar Captains, Archangel, Wedge, Hydra and the marine Major from the troop carrier all sat in Orion's main wardroom.

"So the Medlia will be back this evening we need to get a plan sorted out before then." Bojay said, "Does anyone have any suggestions?"

"I do," Captain Archer replied, "We send ships out to each of the planets to see where they all then we all reconvene and send in everything we've got."

"With all due respect that's going to take far too long." Archangel said.

"I take it you have a plan as well Major?" Archer asked.

"We take the fleet to the most central position we can find from all the planets then we send the Medlia to all the planets, they won't be noticed and they will be able to take detailed dradis readings of their positions etcetera. When we know where they are we send Orion, the Gunstars and raptors loaded with EMP warheads, we hit them and then we storm each ship with teams of marines till everything is secure." Archangel replied.

"Do we really want to hit all those ships with Emps rendering them useless?" Wedge asked.

"Well there's good news on that point," Reynolds said, "Mike Campbell's team have been working on altering the power of the warheads since this all started. We have warheads now that will knock out the ships and keep them off line for approximately three hours."

"Three hours isn't very long to take some of the ships due to the size of them." Major Hannery the marine commander said.

"We send marine squads to the bridge, engine room and hanger bay of all the ships first. Then we take them deck by deck." Archangel replied.

"Do any of you object to this plan?" Bojay asked.

No one said anything.

"Good then that's what we'll do." Bojay added.

"I'd like to remain on the Cryxus till this is over," Archangel said, "I want to lead the marines onto the Caprican Sunrise."

"Any reason that ship in particular?" Archer asked.

"Because that's where my father will be and I would imagine the Commander and President." Archangel replied.

"How do you figure that?" Reynolds asked.

"No matter how well it's going on whichever of the planets they are on he'll want to be on the biggest most luxurious ship they have and he'll want to keep them close to him. He knows when we come his best chance of survival is by using them as a human shield." Archangel replied.

"This isn't going to end without casualties is it?" Bojay asked.

"Fingers crossed, if we all remain on our game none of them will be ours." Archangel said.

They all looked up as the door opened and the Vice President walked in.

"Sorry I wasn't here earlier it would appear your assistant didn't inform me there was a meeting." Natasha said.

"Apologies Madame Vice President I didn't realise you would want to be here while we planned our SAR mission." Bojay replied.

"I should be kept appraised of everything you decide." Natasha replied.

"And you would have been after we had decided on what we were doing." Bojay replied.

"And have you?" she replied.

"Yes we have. We're going to take the fleet to a central position from all the habitable planets and then send the Medlia out to check them all. Then when we have found them we take Orion and the Gunstars disable the ships and retake them." Bojay said.

"What about this planet? You just want to leave it?" Natasha asked.

"We've re supplied and contrary to what you thought it was never going to be a permanent solution. I want everyone off world and back on their ships within the next thirty six hours." Bojay said.

"But.." Natasha said.

Bojay cut her off before she could continue, "Once we have secured the rest of the fleet and have Commander Garrett and President Vents back then you can talk to them about the planet and your plans for it, until then with all due respect I don't want to hear any more about it."

"You don't have the right to order me." Natasha said.

"Madame Vice President you give me no other option, until this SAR mission has been completed and we have everyone back I have no choice but to declare Martial Law." Bojay said.

"There's no need for that Colonel, your suggestions are acceptable." Natasha replied.

"Then I would ask you to go back to your ship and inform everyone we intend on leaving in thirty six hours." Bojay replied before turning back to his chair and sitting back down.

Natasha turned and left the room without another word.

"I've wanted to do that for a long time." Bojay said when the door had closed.

"Has she been that bad?" Archangel asked.

"You have no idea!" Reynolds replied.

….

The morning the fleet was due to launch Archangel and Grace lay in their quarters aboard Orion.

"It feels strange to be back here after five months." Grace said.

"I like being back here. I can't wait till this is all over and we can go back to some kind of normality." Archangel replied.

"It's fraked up what has become normal these days." Grace replied.

"Tell me about it." Archangel laughed.

"Are you going to kill your father when you find him?" Grace asked.

"It's going to take all my strength not too. Honestly I don't know." He replied, "Do you think I shouldn't?"

"That really isn't my place to say," Grace replied, "You and your father have a lot of baggage between you, how you deal with him is up to no one but you."

"You know Carrie asked me the same thing yesterday, am I going to kill him."

"What did you tell her?"

"I told her that I didn't know. Too many good people have died because of his little quest for power. Anyway lets change the subject, this is the calm before the oncoming storm of today, lets not waste it talking about my father."

"Agreed." Grace replied turning over and looking at the clock, "We still have a couple of hours before we have to leave for the Cryxus."

"Hmmm what should we do then?" Archangel said turning and kissing her.

….

The fleet sat and waited for the Medlia to return from its recon mission. Despite the fact morale was higher since they had the co-ordinates nerves and tension could be felt throughout the crews of the ships and the civilians. The Cryxus mess hall was full of marines, Skeeter and Archangel.

"Okay everyone knows which sections they will be hitting. We keep in constant radio contact, if anyone needs back up you'll get it as soon as possible. I don't want anyone taking any unnecessary risks, if you're unsure about a target put them down. Most of the civilians I would assume will be on the planet. In my experience when a civvies sees you running in their direction armed to the fraking teeth the quickly get out of the way. There is one thing I have to ask you all. If any of you find my father Galen Hunter I want you to secure him in a room or something and then contact me. I need to be the one to put him down, after everything he's done. Does anyone have any objections?"

"I think I speak for everyone in the room sir when I say when we find the fraker he's all yours." Sergeant Jennings said.

"Thank you." Archangel replied.

"Archangel to CIC, Archangel to CIC." A voice said over the COM.

As Archangel walked onto the CIC Lieutenant Walker met him.

"Everything okay?" he asked.

"Yes Major, the Medlia has returned and they've found the NCO." Walker said, "All ships have received positions of their fleet in orbit around the planet."

Archangel smiled to himself it was nearly time.

….

"All ships report ready Colonel." Phillips said.

"Excellent," Bojay replied, "Okay give word to the fleet to begin jump sequence. Inform the Medlia that I want them to stay with the fleet before the final jump." Johnson said.

"Yes sir." Phillips said.

"All raptors are ready. They're ready to launch before the final jump," Reynolds said, "The Chief has informed us that they have already started loading vipers into the tubes."

Bojay let out a deep breath, "I don't think I've ever been so nervous in my life." Bojay said.

"All ships report ready to jump." Phillips said.

"Here goes nothing," Bojay said, "Mr Phillips please give the order for the fleet to make the first jump."

"Aye sir. All ships this is the Battlestar Orion stand by to jump in 5..4..3..2..1.. Jump."

The whole fleet blinked away in a series of bright flashes.

"Jump complete," Phillips said, "All ships are logged in and accounted for."

"Very good. Begin jump prep for the second jump." Bojay said.

"Three more to go." Reynolds said.

….

Galen Hunter sat in his office relaxing with a glass of wine as he looked out at the stars. As he took a sip from his glass he noticed the flashes of ships jumping in close by, a lot of ships. He jumped out of his chair to get a closer look and saw the looming shape of the Battlestar Orion.

"Frak." Galen said to himself. He dashed for his phone, "They're here." He said as he watched the ships move in closer.

….

"We're in position." Reynolds said.

"Instruct all ships to fire." Bojay said.

"All ships open fire." Phillips ordered.

Orion, the four Gunstars and twenty raptors all fired their EMP warheads. Blue streaks flew through the dark sky and all hit their targets immobilizing them in an instant.

….

Vanessa felt the impact of the missiles as they hit the Caprican Sunrise. As the power to the room went out Garrett managed to smile, the first smile she had managed in months.

"They're here." She whispered.

….

"All ships are dead in the water." Phillips said.

"Launch the vipers." Bojay ordered, "Give the order for the boarding parties to launch."

"Aye sir." Reynolds replied.

….

Wedge's viper was the first to launch followed moments later by hundreds more. He saw the lost ships from the fleet drifting in their orbit.

"All vipers this is Wedge you all know your positions, lets do this by the book." Wedge said.

It was all going well, as smoothly as they had hoped. Wedge led five other vipers from his squadron towards his assigned sector. A matter of seconds before he saw the gunfire fifteen new dradis blips appeared.

"All vipers break break break." He yelled into the COM.

The other pilots from his squadron had all seen it at the same time and all managed to manoeuvre out of the way. As Wedge levelled out he saw the weapons platforms between the ships that had activated.

"Orion this is Wedge, there are fifteen weapons platforms we need to take them out before the boarding parties can land."

"Wedge this is Orion not a problem, keep us informed." Bojay replied.

"Guys form up on me lets take these things down. Switching to missiles." As soon as Wedge got tone he fired two missiles which were intercepted by fire from the platforms.

"Frak me. Orion we've got a problem, missiles have been intercepted we're going to have a problem getting closer." Wedge said.

"We have a problem if they're that powerful. We'll have to use the Gunstars to get closer and take them out one at a time." Reynolds said.

"Colonel, Poet just informed we lost Nightwing." Phillips said.

"Instruct the Gunstars to take them out." Bojay said.

"Colonel I've got Hydra on the line she wants to speak with both you and Wedge." Phillips said.

"Do it." Bojay replied. He picked up his handset, "Hydra this is Bojay."

"Colonel I have an idea. If the vipers can give those things something to shoot at we can jump in behind them and take them out." Hydra said.

"Wedge what do you think?" Bojay asked.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Wedge replied.

"You're clear to go for it." Bojay said.

"All vipers this is Wedge we have to give those platforms something to shoot at. Try not to get too close and don't give them any easy targets." Wedge ordered, "Hydra you're clear." Wedge and the other vipers began making themselves targets.

"Raptors 2 though 15 we're sending you which weapons platform we want you to go for. Jump in behind them and take them out." Hydra said.

"All raptors report ready." Lieutenant Shane "Misfit" Daniels said from the back of the raptor.

Hydra selected her remaining EMP missiles.

"Give the order to jump." Hydra said.

"All raptors jumping in 5..4..3..2..1"

The fifteen raptors all blinked out of formation. When Hydra and Misfit jumped in warning alarms began to sound as they were so close to two large ships, the upper atmosphere and the weapons platform.

"Frak me we're going too fast!" Misfit shouted.

Without thinking Hydra fired the missiles which hit their target perfectly and pulled her raptor up and over the platform with metres to spare.

"Frak me that was close." Hydra said.

Wedge watched as Hydra's raptor came from behind the now powerless weapons platform like a bullet.

"Good flying Hydra." Wedge said.

"Colonel all weapons platforms have been disabled but we lost four raptors who just ploughed into them." Phillips said.

"Frak. Tell Hydra and the others to retake their defensive position and give the boarding parties clearance to head back to their targets." Bojay replied.

"So much for no casualties." Reynolds said.

"We'll mourn the dead later." Bojay coolly replied.

Archangel sat in the back of the crammed raptor with marines, Skeeter and Grace wearing body armour.

"You okay?" Archangel asked Grace.

She nodded her head and smiled, "Sure am." She replied.

"Just remember to stick behind us."

"You don't have to worry about me." She said.

"I know that." Archangel said with a smile.

"Major we are coming up on the Caprican Sunrise." Lt Shelby "Diva" Carter said.

"Take us into position so we can get a hard seal." Archangel replied.

"Aye sir." Diva replied.

"Sergeant Jennings you ready?" Archangel asked.

"Sure am." He replied taking out a cutting torch, "Goggles everyone." He said.

As the ship achieved hard seal Jennings started to cut through the hull. Moments later they were in.

"Orion this is Diva we're through the hull and everyone is going into the Caprican Sunrise."

Two NCO appeared as soon as Archangel came through the hull and he took them down with headshots. Moments later everyone was out of the raptor. Archangel gave everyone hand signals as everyone engaged night vision to compensate for the dark. Archangel led Sergeant Jennings, Private Jessop, Skeeter and Grace down the long dark corridor.

"All marines this is the Battlestar Orion you are instructed to switch to shock rounds in order to minimize civilian casualties." Lieutenant Phillips said over their earpieces.

"Take all the fun out of it why don't you." Archangel whispered back. They were all carrying two different rifles, one with live rounds and one with shock rounds, they all quickly changed over.

Two people appeared in front in the dark corridor and were promptly taken down by Archangel and Jennings. As they started to reach doors to rooms off the corridor they began to check each and every room.

"Colonel, Major Hannery reports they have taken the Caprican Sunrise bridge with minimal resistance." Phillips said.

"That's a good start." Bojay replied.

You could hear a pin drop on the CIC is was so quiet. Bojay looked up and smiled as he saw Carrie walk in.

"Any news?" she asked.

Bojay shook his head, "Not really it's still early. The boarding parties are still securing each ship."

"Can I wait here?" she asked.

"Of course you can." Bojay replied putting his arm around her.

"Colonel, Wedge reports vipers and raptors have set up a perimeter. He reports a go to launch the raptors to land on the planet." Phillips said.

"Excellent. Inform Bria to let everyone know I don't want them to use force on any of the civilians unless they are attacked first. Tell them if they need to use them it has to be shock rounds. Tell her if she gets the chance to instruct the people what is happening." Bojay said.

"Aye sir."

As emergency lighting kicked in aboard the Caprican Sunrise the element of surprise the boarding parties had was gone. Any lights at all coming on had been a surprise to them, the yield of the warheads must have been lower than expected.

"Orion this is Archangel emergency lighting has just kicked in." Archangel said.

"Archangel Orion you are advised to carry on as planned, the ship is secure." Phillips replied over the COM.

As they rounded the next corner a group of heavily armed NCO opened fire on them. Archangel and Jennings moved back under cover as quickly as they could.

"How many?" Skeeter asked.

"Six." Jennings replied.

The rounds from their machine guns kept coming making it impossible for them to fire back.

"Ideas?" Jennings asked.

Archangel took a flash bang from his belt.

"Cover your ears and close your eyes." Archangel instructed. He activated the grenade, kneeled down and quickly threw it down the corridor. As the grenade went off the gunfire stopped. Archangel moved into the corridor and fired at the six men who were completely disorientated.

Before he could get off a shot another unseen NCO hit him hard in the face. Archangel composed himself quickly and blocked the kick that was heading for his groin. Archangel punched the man hard in the gut. Jennings came up behind the man and hit him hard putting him on the ground. Archangel pointed his rifle at the man.

"Where is Commander Garrett?" he asked.

The man didn't reply. Taking out his sidearm loaded with bullets Archangel shot the man in the kneecap.

"Where is Commander Garrett? The next one will be in a more tender spot." Archangel said pointing it towards his groin.

"Cabin 347." The man replied in agony.

Jennings shot him with a shock round after he had spoken.

"Lets move." Archangel said.

The group moved silently through the corridors as Skeeter was more familiar with the ship he led the way with his rifle raised. As they reached the corridor there were three armed men standing outside the cabin who were caught by surprise and easily taken down by Archangel and Skeeter. Archangel opened the door and rushed in when he saw the Commander sat huddled on the bed.

"Commander." Archangel said.

"Mark." She replied croakily.

He smiled when she looked at him, hiding the horror of what he was feeling seeing all the cuts and bruises on her face.

"I knew you'd come." She said tears rolling down her face.

"Did my father do this to you?" he asked.

"Some of it." She replied.

Grace came over and opened her med bag.

"Commander I need to give you a quick once over is that okay?" she asked.

Garrett nodded in reply.

"Major Hunter this is Corporal Danes we have your father." A voice said over their COMS.

"Where are you?" Archangel replied.

"President Vents office." Danes replied.

"Corporal keep him in there, I'm on my way." Archangel replied.

"Where are you going?" Garrett asked.

"They've found my father, I'm going to have a chat with him." Archangel replied.

"I'm coming with you." Skeeter said.

"No stay here, that goes for you two as well, if anyone you don't recognise comes anywhere near here put them down." Archangel replied.

"Let me come with you." Skeeter said.

"No please stay here."

"Be careful." Grace said.

Archangel took out one of his side arms loaded with live rounds and made sure it was chambered the did the same to the other, "I'll be fine, it's my father who needs to worry. Sergeant Jennings please inform Orion we have the Commander."

"Yes sir." Jennings replied, "Battlestar Orion this is Sergeant Jennings we have the Commander I repeat we have the Commander."

As Archangel walked down the corridors his mind was racing. All the anger and pain caused by the man who he had once called Dad was filling him up. He had so much to ask him and so much to tell him. The two marines guarding the president's office stood down when they saw Archangel approach.

"Is he on his own in there?" Archangel asked.

"Yes sir we also made sure he is unarmed." Danes replied.

"Anyone comes up this corridor that you don't know put a shock round in them. No matter what you hear I don't want you to come in there. If he walks out of here before me put a bullet between his eyes." Archangel said.

"Yes sir." Danes replied.

Archangel took a deep breath before opening the door and walked inside. His father looked up and smiled when he saw his son walk in.

"Hello son." Galen said holding out his arms.

Archangel walked up to his father without saying a word and punched him in the face as hard as he could breaking the mans nose. Galen fell to the ground. Archangel grabbed him by the collar pulled him up and punched him twice more in the face before letting go.

"You son of a bitch." Archangel said taking a step back and taking one of his guns from its holster.

"That's no way to treat your father." Galen replied as he got back to his feet and wiped the blood from his face.

"My father, the father I thought I knew died on Caprica. I don't know you, the monster who stands in front of me."

"That's rich coming from you," Galen replied, "You're more of a monster than anyone I've ever met. How many people have you murdered? You're mother would be so disappointed in you."

"Don't you dare talk about my mother. So how long have you been like this? How long have you been this Mr Caprica?" Archangel asked.

"Honestly, most of my adult life," Galen replied, "How did you think I became so powerful, so rich? Don't be so naive son. I've known about you for a long time as well."

"How?" Archangel replied.

"You can't do what you do and not get noticed. You've taken out a lot of my associates down the years, I've had to stop a lot of people putting out hits on you, I mean it made it easier that you've taken out a lot of my enemies and competitors as well. But what type of monster could I be if I was willing to protect you as much as I did. Son I never wanted to be on opposite sides, we can still make this work. You should be in command of that ship," Galen said pointing out of the window to Orion, "Not some inexperienced coward. How long do you think it will be before she gets you all killed?"

"Don't speak about her, after what you've done, yeah that's right I found her before I came here. How could you do that to someone? How could you allow your men to do that to her?"

"Ah so you're still in love with her," Galen said with a smile, "For what it's worth I think she still loves you even though she killed your unborn child."

"What?" Archangel replied.

"Oh you mean you didn't know? You didn't know that your beloved Vanessa was pregnant by you and she had it terminated and never told you. Your Doctor Hammond told me that little nugget of truth."

"I don't believe you."

"That's up to you. But you still haven't answered my question, come with me and we can be in charge of this fleet together and lead our people to the salvation they deserve."

Archangel laughed, "You're crazy if you think that's going to happen. So now you answer my question, could you have saved my mother and brother or did you just let them die?"

"Yes I could have saved them and no I didn't, why would I it's not like we were married?"

"What?"

"We were divorced for nearly two years before the attack, your mother didn't want you to know until Illum had finished his education."

"Did she find out about you? The scum that you actually were?"

"She never knew anything at all, she bought the public persona of Galen Hunter the same as you and everyone else did. We just fell out of love and that is the truth."

"So because of that you let my mother and brother die?"

"Exactly because of that." Galen replied.

Two gunshots could be heard from outside.

"Don't worry about that," Archangel said, "That's just my men putting down two of yours. I just want you to know that growing up I looked up to you I loved you. I just want you to know that before I put a bullet between your eyes."

As Archangel was about to pull the trigger the door opened behind him and John Cavill walked in with a gun raised at Archangel.

"Lower your weapon Major or I will kill you." 1 said.

"You have got to be kidding me," Archangel said, "Saved by a Cylon."

"Drop your weapon Major." 1 said again.

"I don't take orders from a Cylon." Archangel replied.

"He's not a Cylon." Galen replied.

Archangel laughed, "Tell that to the eight versions of him I've killed."

"I will kill you." 1 said.

"Not before I kill him." Archangel replied.

Grace had seen to the Commander as best she could and now she was heading for Archangel, she hadn't heard anything and she was getting worried. His COM was switched off. She had her sidearm ready for anything.

"Grace this is Bojay are you nearly there?"

"I'm nearly there." Grace replied.

As she turned into the corridor she saw the two marines dead outside.

"Bojay the marines outside are dead," Grace said, "I'm heading in."

"I'm sending marines wait for them." Bojay replied.

"I'm heading in, I have to make sure he's okay. I'll leave my COM open." Grace replied.

She walked with her gun raised ready. As she got to the door she saw 1 with his gun raised at Archangel who had his gun raised at Galen who had been handed a gun by his cylon aide. Grace moved up behind him and pressed her gun to the back of his head.

"Hello 1, it's been a while." Grace said.

"I wondered if you'd find us 6," 1 replied, "You need to lower your weapon or Major Hunter is dead."

"You're in no position to give demands. You must have felt it, the change, you know if I pull this trigger you're dead for real." Grace replied.

"I had felt it." 1 replied.

"What?" Galen asked, "So you are a Cylon?"

1 nodded, "I am but that doesn't change anything. Yes I may have started working with you for personal reasons but our friendship is real. I've never betrayed you surely this is proof of that."

"So looks like we are alike after all son, our closest companion a Cylon." Galen said.

"Well I would kind of hope you're not fraking yours." Archangel replied.

Galen laughed, "Touché."

"Put your weapon down 1, I know you're not prepared to die and not resurrect." Grace said.

"That is where you would be wrong." 1 pulled the trigger as he finished speaking shooting Archangel in the back.

"Nooo." Grace screamed as she pulled the trigger on her gun blowing 1s brains out. Before she could pull the trigger again Galen fired at her shooting her in the head killing her instantly. As Archangel slumped to the ground he reached out to Grace who he could see was clearly dead. Galen let out a sigh and adjusted his tie.

"Well this is certainly a turn of events." He said.

He walked over to his son and kicked him over to his back.

"You still alive down there?" Galen asked.

Archangel coughed blood but managed to speak, "Frak you."

On Orion CIC everyone could hear what was happening, Carrie was beside herself listening to her brother die.

"I don't care how far away they are get them there now." Bojay screamed to Phillips who was talking to marines over the COM.

"You know I had no intention of killing you, I really thought I would be able to persuade you to come over to my side. I'm sorry your Cylon whore is dead but you know what they say about survival of the fittest…" They heard over the COM.

"…The best thing I can do for us both us put you out of your misery. I can't have you come after me."

"Do it," Archangel managed to say, "I'm done with you."

The blood from his wound was beginning to pool under him. He tried to move his arms to get one of his weapons but he simply didn't have the strength.

"You know it's ironic, you save all your friends, you save all these people, risk your life daily but when it comes down to it, in your moment of need who is going to save you?" he asked as he raised his gun, "WHOSE GOING TO SAVE YOU?" he screamed.

"Me." Vanessa said as she pulled the trigger shooting Galen in the stomach. He dropped his gun and slumped to the ground next to his son. Vanessa dropped the gun from her good arm and rushed over to Archangel as quickly as he could.

"She's dead." Skeeter said checking for Grace's pulse before rushing over to his best friend, "Orion this is Skeeter we need medics to the President's office immediately Archangel is hurt bad."

"They're nearly there." Phillips replied over the COM.

"Mark it's me." Garrett said.

Archangel coughed up some more blood before he spoke, "Hey. Skeeter," he said taking hold of his best friends hand, "It's been good buddy."

"Medics are on the way you're going to be okay." Skeeter replied.

"Keep an eye out for Carrie for me. I love you man." Archangel said.

"You'll be okay. If I can make it through something like this then you can." Skeeter replied.

He managed to turn his head to look at Vanessa and smiled at her, "I do love you."

"I love you too." She replied.

"I'm sorry it took so long to find you." Archangel said, "I'm sorry for what he did to you."

"You've nothing to be sorry about." Vanessa replied before kissing him on the forehead.

Moments later medics rushed in, some going to Archangel and some to Galen.

"No." Garrett shouted, "Leave him." She said pointing to Galen.

As the medics started to work on Archangel Skeeter helped Garrett to her feet. Galen was trying to crawl away. Skeeter walked over grabbed him by his arm and dragged him into the adjoining room followed by the commander.

"Sergeant Jennings stand guard by this door. If anyone you don't know tries to come in here kill them."

"Yes ma'am." He replied.

Garrett shut the door behind them both. Skeeter dropped Galen in the middle of the room.

"Do you remember me?" Skeeter asked.

Galen didn't reply he just lay there in extreme pain.

"DO YOU REMEMBER ME?" Skeeter yelled.

"Yes I remember you. You and that simpleton used to hang around my son when we lived on Sagittaron."

"Simpleton?" Skeeter yelled before punching Galen in the face.

"So did you end up a violent drunk like I always suspected you would?" Galen asked as he spat blood.

Skeeter went to punch him again but Garrett stopped him.

"I need medical help." Galen said.

"After what you've done to me why should I give you anything at all? You had me beaten for all this time, five months and the only person to come to my aid, the only person who gave a frak about me was a Cylon. I'm going to make you suffer the way you made me suffer." Garrett said, "For the way you made your son suffer and all those other people you've hurt."

"Whatever you do to me you've lost. Those people down on the surface they're thankful to me for what I've done for them they will never leave that planet." Galen said, "I only did to my son what he was going to do to me."

"You know I heard being shot in the stomach is one of the most painful places a person can be shot." Garrett said.

"Well it certainly doesn't tickle." Galen replied.

"Where is Adam Grayson's daughter?" Garrett asked.

"Why do you care?" Galen replied.

"Because I made a promise, where is she?" Garrett replied.

"On the planet, she's been there from the start. She's a teaching assistant at the school they built."

"I want you to know that you failed, you lost, not me, not us, you. In the last few seconds you have to live I want you to think about what you did to me and how I'm a much kinder person than you." Garrett replied before raising her gun and shooting Galen in the face before dropping to the ground.

"Commander." Skeeter said rushing over to her. He lifted her up and went back into the other room.

….

"Colonel, Lieutenant Thirren reports Raptors have touched down. They are finding the civilians hostile but not aggressive. She is holding ground until others can get there."

"Good." Bojay replied.

The CIC fell into silence again as they waited for any news. The only noise that could be heard came from the dradis monitor as it whooshed backwards and forwards. Carrie wiped tears from her face as she waited for news about her brother.

"Colonel, Deathlock reports they have Archangel and the medics aboard and will be back on Orion within five minutes." Phillips said.

"How is he?" Carrie asked.

"The medics are stabilising him but early reports are it's bad." Phillips replied.

"Make sure the deck is clear for them landing and make sure Doctor Green is waiting with a team on the hanger deck.

"Aye sir."

"And get me an update on the Commander and President."

….

Commander Garrett walked with Skeeter through the corridors of the Caprican Sunrise. Her marines and other crewmembers saluted her as she passed. As they passed civilians they looked horrified to see the damage that had been inflicted upon Garrett. Skeeter was on alert as they walked, scanning every face and every movement. He was ready to put anyone down who may be planning on doing something stupid.

"How have things been with the fleet since I've been here?" she asked.

"Things have been fine ma'am. I was assigned to the Cryxus when it went looking for you so I wasn't there to see things first hand but it's my understanding that everything is fine."

"That's something I suppose." She replied.

They walked onto the hanger where a raptor was waiting for them along with the Caprican Sunrises' captain Andrew Henry stood with his hands cuffed behind his back with two marines standing either side of him.

"My gods Commander what happened to you?" he said.

"Galen Hunter happened to me you fraking traitor." Garrett replied.

"Honestly I had no idea I swear otherwise I would have made him stop." Henry replied.

"So was it worth siding with the NCO?" she asked.

"If you'd seen the planet then you'd know why I thought it was."

"Mr Henry you are hereby relieved of your command pending charges of treason." Garrett said.

"You can't charge me with treason!" he replied.

"We'll see." She replied.

"Skeeter help me onto the raptor please." Garrett said.

"With pleasure commander." He replied.

….

Carrie watched as Dr Green and the medics rushed around her brother in Orion's sickbay. She knew it was bad, now it was a waiting game to see how bad. They had no idea how much internal damage he had but they did know he was loosing a lot of blood.

"Carrie."

She turned around to see Wedge standing behind her. She forced a smile and hugged the man she loved.

"How is he?" Wedge asked.

"They don't know yet."

"Doc Green is excellent at his job your brother is in good hands." Wedge replied.

"I thought you were with your squadron?" she asked.

"Bojay told me to come back to the barn. Streaker has taken over, they can manage without me."

"I'm glad you're here."

Wedge smiled and hugged her again. They both looked up as Commander Garrett walked in with Skeeter and one of the other medics.

"Oh my gods Commander." Carrie said.

"It looks worse than it is." Garrett replied, "Any news?"

Carrie shook her head.

"Where's Grace?" Wedge asked.

"She's dead." Skeeter replied, "Shot in the head."

"We'll have to figure out how we're going to find her and get her back." Garrett said.

"There's no point." Skeeter replied.

"She's one of us we can't just leave her to the Cylons." Wedge replied.

"There's no point because the Cylons have lost their ability to download." Skeeter replied.

"What?" Garrett and Wedge said at the same time.

"Grace and I talked a lot on the Cryxus. She told me that something felt different. She said that she knew their resurrection ability had been destroyed so that from now on when a Cylon dies they die." Skeeter replied.

"Frak me." Wedge said.

"I heard her say it over the COM to the other Cylon before Mark was shot." Carrie said, "Commander sorry to change the subject but my father?"

"He's dead." Vanessa replied.

"Good." Carrie replied coldly, "Did you make him suffer?"

Garrett looked at Skeeter.

"He had a quicker end than he would have given any of us put it that way." Skeeter replied.

"Which of you killed him?" Carrie asked.

"I did." Vanessa replied.

"Thank you Commander I owe you one." Carrie said.

….

Sometime later Commander Garrett, President Vents and Colonel Johnson sat in the Commanders quarters. The commander and president listening to what had been happening during their time with the NCO.

"Sounds like she was getting insistent about that planet." Milo said.

"She was. I have to say that at no point did anyone mention calling off the search she left us to search for you without sticking her oar in." Bojay replied.

"Commander you're being awfully quiet." Milo said.

"I'm tired of all this," she said, "I'm tired of being second guessed. I'm tired of people conspiring against us when all we're doing is trying to keep them safe. If these people want to stay on this planet let them. I don't care anymore. We'll go on with those who want to come with us."

"And if most people want to stay?" Milo asked.

"Then they stay." Vanessa replied, "Even if it's just the battle group that continues then so be it."

"They have a council on the planet and they want to meet with us. I think they think we're going to force them to come with us." Milo said.

"So go see them," Vanessa said, "I wash my hands of it. I'll address the rest of the fleet and give them the option, other than that this situation is all yours."

"Very well," Milo said, "If you'll excuse me then I need to get a shuttle down to the planet. It's been good to see you both again."

"Likewise Milo." Vanessa said.

Moments later he had walked out of her quarters.

"You've done a great job," Vanessa said, "Captain Reynolds filled me in on some of the things that have happened starting with the Cylon attack."

"That was something I could do without ever doing again." Bojay replied with a smile.

"Still you held our fleet together and you acted very well under extreme pressure."

"What about you? The medics tells me you're going to have to go in for surgery on your shoulder."

"Yeah I am. Probably in a couple of days, he has his hands full with Archangel at the moment."

"I hope he'll be okay." Bojay said.

"He's strong, the strongest person I've ever known."

"I heard some of the things his father said to him, I couldn't believe my ears. He really was a son of a bitch."

"That's putting it mildly. He was prepared to execute his own son. We're better off without him."

"Couldn't agree more."

….

Carrie hadn't moved from sickbay since her brother had been brought in. She waited for news that so far hadn't arrived. She looked up and smiled as Jawbreaker walked in holding two cups of coffee which he handed to Carrie and Wedge.

"Any news yet?" he asked.

Carrie shook her head, "Not yet."

"How are you holding up?" Jawbreaker asked.

"As well as I can. I have to be strong for my brother." Carrie replied.

"Well all the squadrons are thinking of him, we're all here for you. If you need anything you come find me okay." The giant man said with a smile.

"Thank you."

As she finished speaking Doctor Green appeared.

"Well?" Carrie asked standing up.

"There was a lot of internal damage but we managed to get if fixed up. He's okay for now. We have him stable but he is critical. Carrie I'm not going to lie to you right now it could go either way."

"Can I see him?" Carrie asked.

"Not at the moment, we're getting him prepped to move him to the Medstar."

"Can't he stay here?" Wedge asked.

"I'd rather he didn't Captain. There are far more people over there who can look after him better than we can in sickbay." Green replied.

"Can I go with him?" Carrie asked.

"Of course. I'll let you know when we're ready to leave."

"Thank you." Carrie replied.

….

President Vents and Vice President Cobb walked into the meeting area for Haven's council. Winston Dallas stood to greet them.

"President Vents, Vice President Cobb welcome to Haven." Winston said.

"I'm going to come straight to the point I hear you have been informed of what has been going on?" Milo asked as he and the vice president sat down.

"Yes we have and it came as a terrible shock, we had no idea that yourself and poor Commander Garrett were here and being treated so badly. We had no idea Galen Hunter was such an evil man." Winston said.

"So are you all prepared to come with us now and leave this NCO nonsense behind?" Milo asked.

"Mr President while he may have turned out not to be the man we thought he still has delivered us a home and we are thriving here. We may not be calling ourselves the New Colonial Order but we have no intention of leaving this world, this is our new home and we urge you Mr President to stay here with us."

"With the Cylon threat still ever present I do not feel settling on any world is a good idea at the moment." Milo said.

"I'm sure this is a question that keeps being asked often then, how long do we wait? How long do we keep our people trapped in space ships on a seemingly endless journey? Mr President if you do not wish to stay then I ask that you give the people of the fleet the choice of either staying with us or going with you."

Milo looked at Natasha and then back at Winston, "I'll take that under advisement."

….

Commander Garrett walked onto the CIC to the applause of the crew. She couldn't help but smile to be back as she took her place at the dradis console next to Bojay.

"Good to see you back where you belong." Bojay said.

"Good to be back Bojay. I was beginning to think this was never going to happen." Garrett replied.

"Let me know what you need to help out."

"Thank you." She replied with a smile, "I've got to have surgery on my shoulder tomorrow so you'll be running the show a little longer."

"However long it takes ma'am."

"Lieutenant Phillips."

"Yes ma'am."

"Please put me through to the entire fleet and the planet."

"Channel open." He replied.

Vanessa took a deep breath before picking up her handset, "People of the fleet and people of Haven this is the Commander. As you all know Galen Hunter and the NCO have fallen. The lies that you have all been told have all finally come to light and we are all reunited once again. Despite the lies and the terrible things that Galen Hunter has done he has delivered one thing and that is the planet Haven. President Vents and I do not believe now is the time to be settling on a planet with the constant threat of the Cylons. However we understand the people of Haven do not wish to leave the planet and we are not about to forcibly remove them from their home. So you all now have a decision to make. Orion and the fleet will be leaving this system tomorrow, it is up to you whether you want to come with us or stay on this planet. If you do decide to stay remember you are forsaking the protection of this ship and we will not be coming back once we have left. If you decide to come with us I have one thing to say we will not tolerate any NCO remaining or anyone else who wishes to take over where Galen Hunter left off. If anyone decides to go against us I will personally come after you with everything at my disposal to stop you. This offer also applies to the crews of all the military vessels, if you want to stay you can. With all this in mind you have twenty four hours to make up your mind."

She put the handset down and let out an audible sigh before looking up.

"I wasn't just saying that you all have the option." She said.

"Commander I'm with you." Bojay said.

SAGITARRON – THE TOWN OF FREEDOM

PRESENT DAY

The town of Freedom looked like a ghost town. The orange glow from the sun as it fought through the nuclear clouds would have looked beautiful to anyone if they had been there.

Six heavily armed men dressed in black body armour with black face masks moved silently up the road that led to Archangel's home. Quickly and quietly they reached the door which was still unlocked from when Archangel and his team of survivors had left over two years before. The six men seemed to know where they were going as they moved through the house checking each room was clear as they passed through it to the back of the house. As they reached the kitchen one of the men took a small hand held device from his pocket and plugged it straight into the hidden keypad to the locked door that would lead to under the house. Moments later there was a quiet beep and the locked door opened. Three of the men waited at the door as the others went down the stairway to the second locked door below. After repeating the same actions with the second door it beeped open. As they walked inside the small arsenal and supply room beyond the door the lighting kicked in. The three men walked straight past all the weapons, ammunition and supplies that still lined the walls and stopped at a small safe at the back of the room. The small hand held device was this time plugged into the safes control panel. This time it took a few minutes longer for the same beeping noise. When it did the safe opened. One of the men moved the files, bundles of money and other things out of the way and took out a small black box from the back of the safe. He took the small box and put it onto one of the pockets on his body armour before switching on a radio.

"Shadow 1 this is Boy Scout, package secure."


	26. Confessions

Mike Campbell paced the corridors of the Battlestar Orion. He wanted to speak to the Commander, he knew what he wanted to say but he was scared how she would react. He walked past her quarters for the fifth time but this time he stopped and reached out to knock on the door but stopped himself. He took a deep breath and before he realised what he was doing he had knocked on the door. Moments later Commander Garrett opened the door and smiled. Her arm in a sling as it healed from her operation and her face was starting to heal from the beatings.

"Mike what can I do for you?" she asked.

"May I speak with you please Commander?" he stuttered.

"Of course, please come in." Vanessa replied.

Mike walked into the large quarters and closed the door behind him.

"Please sit, can I get you a drink?" she asked with a smile.

"Water please." He replied.

Moments later she handed him a glass and he took a sip from it.

"So what can I do for you?"

"Commander what happened to you was my fault, I can never forgive myself for what they did to you and I wanted to say that I am so sorry."

"How is any of this your fault?" she asked.

"I knew the coordinates of the planets all along. If I had only asked Colonel Johnson or Captain Reynolds what had been deleted straight away then we could have come and saved you and none of this would have happened."

"What happened to me wasn't your fault. Bojay told me everything that happened and I don't blame you. I blame Galen Hunter and I put him in the ground. Mike if it wasn't for you then Orion may have never found us and I would still be there or I would be dead. So thank you and please don't blame yourself. You helped save me." Vanessa smiled as she finished speaking.

"Thank you." Mike said quietly.

"You're welcome. Now I don't want to hear any more of you blaming yourself do you understand me?" Vanessa said.

"Yes ma'am." Mike replied.

….

Carrie sat next to her brother. He was still on a ventilator after being shot by their father. She hadn't left the Medstar in the week he had been there. He had come through the worst of it now and was starting to heal and the doctors were planning on waking him up within the next couple of days. She looked up and smiled as Skeeter and Vannick walked into the room.

"Good morning." Skeeter said with a smile.

"Hey." Carrie replied.

"Any news?" Vannick asked.

"He's progressing well and they're planning on waking him up sometime over the next couple of days." Carrie replied.

"That's good news." Skeeter said sitting down next to the bed.

"Have you thought about getting off this ship and getting some proper sleep?" Vannick asked.

"I'm sleeping fine, there is a perfectly good bed here. I just have to stay till he wakes up." Carrie replied.

"You know he wouldn't want you to run yourself into the ground." Skeeter said.

"I said I'm fine." Carrie snapped back, "I'm sorry. I'm just so scared something might happen and if I'm not here."

"Hey he's going to be fine." Skeeter replied.

"I know." Carrie replied.

"Hey Darius you okay you look like you've seen a ghost?" Skeeter said.

"The girl who was just pushed past the door in a wheel chair she just looked really really familiar." Vannick replied, "Excuse me I'll be right back."

Vannick left the room. The girl didn't just look familiar she was the spitting image of his old girlfriend who he had a child with when they were fifteen. As she was wheeled into a treatment room Vannick walked up to the nurse who had been walking with her.

"Excuse me the girl who just went in there what's her name?" Vannick asked.

"And you are?" the nurse replied.

"Sergeant Darius Vannick from Orion. She looks like someone I used to know a long time ago."

The nurse looked at him for a few moments, "Her name is Jenny Rhodes."

"Can I ask what's wrong with her?" Vannick asked.

"I shouldn't tell you this but she has kidney failure. She was on the Medlia, luckily they found us just in time so we could help her. But she needs a transplant and if she doesn't get one soon then she's not going to make it." The nurse replied.

This hit Vannick like a lead weight. His mother's family had a history of kidney issues and this had happened to at least three members of his family that he knew of down the years.

"Test me to see if I'm compatible." Vannick said.

"The chances of you being compatible are very slim." The nurse replied.

"Please." Vannick pleaded.

"Why? You don't even know the girl." The nurse said.

"Because I think she's my daughter."

….

The Scopestar Medlia jumped into a nearby system from the fleet. The advanced ship was now more fully staffed than it had been before. Major Adam "Short Stack" Lewthwaite smiled as he walked onto the ships CIC. He remembered the first time he had seen this part of the ship and it had reminded him of something from a science fiction movie. He walked up to the dradis console and was greeted by his new XO Lieutenant Aaron Brown who had once been the communications officer aboard the Battlestar Olympus.

"Good morning major." Aaron said.

"Good morning. How have things been?" Short Stack replied.

"We've just arrived at our second jump point. Scans are underway to see if there is anything we can use." Aaron said.

"Dradis contact." The ships A.I known as Ghost said, "We have multiple Cylon contacts on the edge of long range dradis."

"Ghost have we been seen?" Short Stack asked.

"Negative," Ghost replied, "We are currently out of known Cylon dradis range. If we do not halt we will enter their sensor range in 110 seconds."

"Bring us to a stop and make sure the FTL is ready. Take as many scans as you can and then get us the hell out of here." Short Stack said.

"Yes Major." Ghost said.

"You know it's going to take me a while to get used to a ship run by an A.I." Aaron said.

"You'll get used to us," Short Stack replied with a laugh, "If it wasn't for Ghost we would have been screwed a long time ago. We may not have much in the way of weapons aboard but with him we don't need them."

"Dradis scans complete." Ghost said.

"What are we looking at?" Short Stack replied.

"Four Baseships and a larger unknown contact. It looks as though it might be some sort of space station." The A.I said.

"Okay take us back to the fleet." Short Stack ordered.

"Yes Major. All hands prepare to jump back to the fleet in 5..4..3..2..1"

….

Bojay read through some paperwork as he drank his morning cup of tea on Orion's CIC. Since they had left Haven behind and the 42,000 people including the Vice President Natasha Cobb who had decided to stay behind there had been lots to do, head counts, checking supplies and what they would need and how soon they would need it. Just fewer than one hundred thousand people had stayed with the fleet. The moral in the ship despite what had been happening was surprisingly good. Knowing Archangel was on the mend had helped with that as well.

"Dradis contact." Lieutenant Phillips said.

"Report." Bojay replied.

"It's the Medlia, Major Lewthwaite is on the horn."

"Put him through down here." Bojay replied.

"Medlia this is Orion." Bojay said, "Everything okay out there?"

"Colonel we've just found what appears to be a Cylon space station with four Baseships at our second jump point." Short Stack replied.

"Were you seen?" Bojay replied.

"Negative sir, we took dradis scans and then jumped home."

"Okay get yourselves back in formation and I'll inform the Commander."

….

"Everything okay?" Skeeter asked as Vannick walked back into the room.

"Erm yeah, I think so." Vannick replied looking like he'd seen a ghost.

"Darius what's wrong?" Carrie asked.

"Remember I told you that when I was a kid I had a daughter?"

"Yeah I remember." Skeeter replied.

"She's here." Vannick replied.

"Seriously? That's amazing news." Skeeter replied.

"Has she been here all this time?" Carrie asked.

Vannick shook his head, "No she was one of the students the Medlia picked up. She's in renal failure and needs a kidney."

"Oh my gods I'm so sorry." Carrie replied.

"They've tested me and they're waiting for the results to see if she can have one of mine."

"Have you spoken to her?" Skeeter asked.

Vannick shook his head again, "What would I say? Sorry you're ill and hey I'm your biological father?"

"Maybe not like that but why not?" Skeeter replied.

"What if she doesn't know she as adopted?"

"How about you wait and see what your results are first," Carrie said, "Then make your decision after that."

"Yeah that's probably the best idea." Vannick replied as he dropped down onto a chair.

….

Commander Garrett stood with Bojay on the CIC looking at the scan data and the pictures the Medlia had taken.

"This could be good." Vanessa said.

"Good how?" Bojay replied.

"We can find out once and for all if Grace was right about the Cylons resurrection."

"And how are we going to do that? Jump in and ask them politely?" Bojay replied.

"Ha ha," Vanessa replied, "No we jump in hit them with EMPs send marines onboard and capture a skin job."

"Commander with all due respect is that really a good idea?"

"When Mark wakes up do you want to be the one who tells him we didn't do all we could to see if Grace was still alive?" She asked looking at her XO.

"No." he replied.

"We have to do everything we can, like Wedge said she's one of us. Please get the Gunstar captains, Majors Lewthwaite and Hannery and the President over here as soon as possible."

"Yes ma'am." Bojay replied.

….

Vannick sat nervously waiting for the test results to come back. He looked up as a nurse walked over to him.

"Sergeant Vannick?" she asked.

He stood up out of the chair, "Yes."

"Okay you are compatible with Miss Rhodes and as you thought before she is your daughter." The Nurse replied.

Vannick dropped back down into the chair.

"Sergeant are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine, it's just a shock that's all. Okay what do we do now?"

"You have to get permission from your superior officer and Commander Garrett before we can do anything."

"Okay, I'll speak to them straight away."

"Do you want Miss Rhodes to know you're her father?"

"No," Vannick replied, "Don't tell her anything yet."

"As you wish but I need to stipulate that this needs to be done sooner rather than later."

"I'll get on a shuttle immediately."

….

Orion's main wardroom was full of the senior officers and the president.

"With all due respect Commander you want to put us at risk to find out if a Cylon might still be alive?" Captain West asked.

"I don't give a frak what she is at the end of the day she was a member of this crew. She has saved countless lives and we owe her this." Vanessa replied.

Captain West didn't reply.

"I have to agree with the Commander, I for one wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her." Bojay added.

"So what's your plan Commander?" Milo asked.

"We take Orion and two of the Gunstars and we hit the station and any Baseships there with EMPs. Once they are disabled we send two raptors to the station loaded with marines. One team will stay with the raptors the other will go and snag the first skin job they find and then come back."

"Won't the EMPs take out the skin jobs as well?" Captain Reynolds asked.

"I've already asked Mike Campbell that and he doesn't think they will." Vanessa replied.

"So the station will be crawling with alive skin jobs when my marines go in?" Hannery asked.

"No Major the station will be crawling with skin jobs when MY marines go in." Vanessa replied.

"This could be a good opportunity to get Intel in general about the Cylons." Milo said.

"So you agree we should do this Mr President?" Vanessa asked.

Milo nodded, "Yes."

"Excellent. We'll take the Cryxus and Aries with us. Captain West you'll be in charge until we get back."

"Yes ma'am." West replied.

"I want to be ready to leave in two hours. I want to hit them fast and hard. Dismissed." Vanessa said.

As everyone began to leave Vannick walked into the room, "Commander, Major may I have a few minutes of your time please?"

"Of course Sergeant, is everything okay?" Vanessa asked.

"Kind of ma'am. I've just come back from the Medstar. I'll get right to the point. It turns out the daughter I had when I was 15 and was put up for adoption by my ex-girlfriends family was one of the students picked up by the Medlia. She has kidney failure and if she doesn't get a transplant soon she is going to die. I've been tested and I'm compatible. I would like permission for them to give her one of mine." Vannick said.

"Absolutely not, that is completely out of the question." Hannery replied.

"Excuse me sir but why? She'll die otherwise." Vannick replied.

"You are one of my best marines. You have more experience against Centurions than any of my soldiers, you're too valuable to be laid out for as long as it will take you to get better." Hannery replied.

"Major she's my daughter. You're a father, what would you do if was either of your children?" Vannick asked.

"We are at war and I need all the people I have." Hannery replied.

"Then I resign my commission."

"I don't accept." Hannery snapped back.

"Gentlemen," Vanessa said cutting them both off, "Sergeant I agree that we do not accept your resignation."

"But Commander." Vannick replied.

"Please sergeant let me finish. You are one of our best and experienced the Major is correct but I'm not going to let your daughter die. We've lost far too many people already as it is. Permission granted."

Vannick smiled, "Thank you ma'am, thank you so much."

"Before you go running off is this something that can wait until tomorrow?" Vanessa asked.

"The nurse told me the sooner the better." Vannick replied.

Garrett looked at Hannery who was very clearly pissed off at her, "Very well then you'll have to miss the op scheduled for this afternoon. Please ask whoever is looking after you to keep me updated on the progress of you and your daughter."

"Yes ma'am I will." He replied.

"Well go then." Vanessa said.

Vannick dashed out of the room.

"With all due respect Commander that was completely out of order and unprofessional." Hannery bellowed.

"Major it's his daughter. Do you really think if we said no he wouldn't head over there and do it anyway?"

"Irrelevant you completely undermined my authority in front of one of my soldiers."

"You're dismissed Major, head back to the troop carrier and get two squads together." Vanessa replied.

"Yes ma'am." He growled as he saluted her.

….

Vanessa found herself walking around the ship before the Op. She smiled and spoke to crewmembers as they went about their jobs to get the ship ready. Before she realised it she found herself on the gantry, which overlooked the hanger deck. She stood and watched as her crew went about their work. She smiled to herself, even after all this time and everything that had happened to them they went about their jobs as professionally as they could.

"Everything okay Commander?"

Vanessa turned to see Wedge walking up to her.

"Yes Captain everything is fine," she replied, "You're doing a good job filling in while Archangel is out of commission."

"Thank you ma'am, that means a lot. I'll be glad to let him have his job back though. XO and squadron leader are enough for me at the moment." He replied.

"Never the less you've done a great job. Everyone ready for the op?"

"We certainly are. Vipers are going to be loaded into the tubes ready just in case we're needed. Hydra and Bria are going to pilot the two raptors over to the station."

They looked down and saw Major Hannery and his marine squads.

"Major Hannery isn't very happy we're doing this." Vanessa said.

"With all due respect, frak Hannery." Wedge replied, "We're doing the right thing. We owe it to her to see if we can save her."

"I couldn't agree more. Anyway I'll let you get back to work." She said with a smile.

"Aye aye." Wedge replied saluting her.

Vanessa saluted her acting CAG before he walked down to the hanger deck. She was doing the right thing she thought.

….

The Battlestar Orion and the Gunstars Cryxus and Aries moved out of formation with the fleet.

"All ships report ready for the jump Commander." Lieutenant Phillips said, "Vipers are in the tubes and EMPs are ready."

"Begin the countdown." Vanessa replied.

Phillips clicked on his head set, "All ships standby to jump on my command. Jumping in 5..4..3..2..1.. Jump."

All three battleships jumped away before reappearing the other side.

"Jump complete." Phillips said.

"Report." Bojay said.

"All ships present. Dradis is picking up the large station and four Baseships." Phillips replied.

"Launch EMP barrage." Garrett ordered.

"All ships fire EMPs." Phillips said over the COM.

Dozens of EMPs streaked through space all hitting their marks.

"Targets powered down. One of the Baseships managed to launch a few raiders and they're heading towards us." Phillips said.

"Move up to condition one and launch vipers."

….

As the order came through Wedge and the other vipers rocketed from their tubes into space. The eleven raiders that had managed to launch headed straight for the fifty vipers that had just launched from Orion.

"All vipers lets make this quick, open racks and engage." Wedge ordered as he moved in for the attack.

….

"Vipers have engaged the enemy targets." Phillips said.

"Put the chatter on the speakers." Garrett ordered.

"What do you want to do about the raptors?" Bojay asked.

"Tell them to launch but hold back while the vipers do their job." Garrett replied.

Bojay picked up his hand set and gave the order.

Vanessa stood and listened as her fighter squadrons did what they did best and took out the raiders.

"Commander, Wedge reports the last two raiders have jumped away." Phillips said.

"Okay lets do this quickly, tell the raptors to head to the station. Instruct the Gunstars to target the four Baseships with nuclear missiles but hold off until the mission is complete. Instruct port side missile tubes to target the station with nukes."

"What about the vipers?" Bojay asked.

"Tell them to fall back but stay out there. I've got a feeling we're going to get company shortly." Vanessa replied.

….

Hydra and Bria flew their raptors closer to the huge station. The marines in the back all in their space suits. Hydra noticed that Major Hannery seemed on edge but refused to speak to him as he had a habit of shouting at her when she did. As they got closer to the station Hydra noticed a hanger bay.

"Raptor three this is raptor one I've seen a hanger bay up ahead follow me in." Hydra said.

The two raptors flew closer to the massive station.

"Look at the size of that thing." Bria said.

Hydra led both raptors into the open hanger bay. Inside the hanger bay was full of raiders and heavy raiders.

"Anyone else feel a little out of place?" Hydra said.

"It looks so… alive." Bria replied.

As the two raptors touched down the marines opened the back hatches immediately and went onto the hanger bay.

"Squad one form up on me." Hannery said, "Lets get this done as quickly as possible. Jennings you guys hold the line back here."

"Yes sir." Sergeant Jennings replied.

The hanger deck was littered with fallen centurions. The marines moved quickly and quietly with their weapons ready.

Hydra and Bria both joined the marines outside.

"My gods this is intimidating." Hydra said.

"I never thought I'd see the inside of a Cylon ship." Jennings said.

"I hoped I wouldn't." Bria replied.

"The Major seems a little on edge." Hydra said.

"What's new? He's pissed off about Vannick and he's pissed off that we're here." Jennings replied.

Hannery led his men on point. As they left the hanger bay they had to step over fallen Centurions as they walked into the long corridor. Laying on the ground up ahead the Major could see a skin job lying motionless. He signalled to his men and pointed to the Cylon. Hannery reached the skin job first and nudged him with his foot who didn't show any signs of life. The Major kneeled down and turned the 5 over. Hannery's eyes widened as the 5 smiled up at him pulled a hidden hand gun and shot him in the face killing him instantly.

"Oh shit." Lance Corporal Jessica Simeon shouted before shooting the 5 killing him. Before the marines could react a small group of skin jobs appeared from one of the side corridors and opened fire killing three of the other marines. Simeon, now the ranking marine returned fire.

"What the frak is going on?" Jennings said as they heard the gunshots switching on his radio, "Major Hannery do you need back up?"

There was a pause before they could hear gunfire erupt over the COM.

"Sergeant, Major Hannery is dead as are Bates, Gorman and Janks. We're under attack by a group of skin jobs, we're on our way back to you." Simeon replied.

"Jessica do you have a skin job?" Jennings replied.

"Negative sergeant." She replied.

"We're on our way." Jennings replied, "Captain we're going to have to go help, I'll leave six marines with you."

"We'll be ready for lift off." Hydra replied.

Jennings and the other three marines ran as quickly as they could. As they reached the door way the other marines had made their way back. Jennings grabbed Simeon and dragged her backwards just as a bullet whizzed past her head.

"Thanks." She said.

Jennings saw three skin jobs still firing. He took a flash bang grenade from his belt and threw it down the corridor. Moments after the grenade went off Jennings quickly made his way to the three fallen Cylons. He took out his side arm and put a bullet in the heads of two of them before putting a shock round in the Cylon model 4 who lay on the ground.

….

On Orion's CIC everyone was waiting for news.

"Commander, Hydra is on the line." Lieutenant Phillips said.

"Put her through down here." Vanessa replied.

She and Bojay picked up their handsets.

"Hydra this is Orion actual go ahead." Vanessa said.

"We've encountered armed resistance, Major Hannery and at least three other marines have been killed. Sergeant Jennings is on his way back, they have a skin job." Hydra said over the line.

"Very well Captain. Get back as soon as you can." Vanessa replied.

"Yes ma'am. The marines are recovering the bodies and then we'll be in the air. Hydra out."

As Garrett put down her handset dradis beeped.

"Dradis contact, we have three Baseships on an intercept course." Phillips shouted.

"Tell the gunstars to move in closer to us and launch EMPs," Vanessa said, "Inform the gun captains to begin suppression barrage. Mr Phillips inform Hydra we have company and we are preparing to launch nuclear weapons as soon as they are clear."

….

As Jennings and the other marines moved back to the raptors more skin jobs appeared behind them and opened fire. Simeon fell to the ground as a bullet hit her in the leg.

"Frak." She shouted.

Jennings opened fire killing a 4 and 5 and causing the others to fall back before he helped Simeon into the raptor.

"Are you okay?" Jennings asked.

Simeon nodded, "Yeah I'll be fine." She replied as she sat into the back of the raptor.

"Hydra we're all aboard, lets get out of here." Jennings said.

As the back hatches closed the two raptors began to lift off. As Hydra lifted off she turned her raptor to the on coming Cylons and opened fire with the ships chain cannons cutting them in two before turning and leading them both out back into space. As the two raptors cleared the Cylon station they were met by a fierce battle. Two of the four Baseships had been knocked out by EMPs while the other two aimed their fire at Orion and the two Gunstars. Hundreds of raiders could be seen in a dogfight with Orion's vipers.

"Orion this is Hydra we are clear and heading back to the barn."

"Hydra this is Orion clear the station as quickly as you can, we're sending nukes to destroy it." Phillips replied over the COM.

"Bria put your foot down we have incoming nuclear ordinance." Hydra said.

"I'm right behind you." She replied.

As the two Raptors sped away they could see in the distance a group of raiders move away from the battle and head towards them.

"Bria heads up we have six raiders inbound." Hydra said.

Moments later Hydra and Bria both watched as Orion and the two Gunstars launched a large volley of nuclear missiles which rocketed past them. Moments after the missiles hit and destroyed their targets the two Gunstars jumped away. As the group of raiders reached them Hydra and Bria both prepared to open fire but were beaten to the punch. Three of the raiders scattered from their targets as the other three were destroyed by a group of vipers that had given chase.

"Raptors this is Streaker we'll mop up these remaining raiders and give you some cover." She said over the COM.

"Thank you Captain." Hydra said as the tension in her small bird calmed.

"You're very welcome."

….

"Commander one of the active Baseships has been destroyed, the other is backing out of weapons range." Bojay said.

"Excellent, what about the raiders?" Vanessa replied.

"They appear to be falling back as well." Bojay said.

Garrett smiled to herself, "How long till Hydra and Bria are aboard?"

"They've just touched down ma'am." Phillips said from his station.

"Recall all birds and get us the frak out of here." Vanessa ordered.

"All fighters you are cleared to return home," Bojay said over the COM, "Once all squadrons are back aboard jump the ship."

….

Vannick let out a nervous sigh as he finished signing the last of the paperwork on the Medstar. Doctor Laura Baines sat with him.

"So you know all the risks that are involved now. There is still time for you to back out." Dr Baines said.

"No I have to do this." Vannick replied.

"Alright then, we'll begin the procedure this afternoon. Now you have agreed Miss Rhodes has asked if she can meet the person who is saving her life." Baines said.

"I'm not sure that's such a good idea." Vannick replied.

"Why not?"

"You're not aware of the situation?"

"That she is your daughter?" Baines replied.

Vannick nodded, "I don't want her to find out about me, I don't want to destroy her life."

"Sergeant with all due respect why would it destroy her life?"

"What if she doesn't know she was adopted? If she finds out I'm her real father it could ruin her memories."

"Listen to me, if I were you I would go and see her. She doesn't need to know exactly who you are. This is a chance for you to meet your daughter for the first time. After all we've been through as a species, all those people we've lost and left behind I can't stress the importance of this chance. There are thousands of people out there who would give anything to have a moment with their loved ones."

Vannick looked out of the window of the small office and saw his daughter in one of the next rooms hooked up to all the machines.

"Okay." He said, "When can I go through?"

"Now is as good a time as any." Baines replied.

"Thank you doctor."

"You're welcome sergeant." She replied.

Vannick felt more nervous than he ever had in his life as he made the short walk from the office to his daughter's room. He took a deep breath and opened the door.

"Hello." Jenny said as she smiled at Vannick.

"Hey, do you have a minute of two to talk?" Vannick replied.

Jenny nodded, "What can I do for you?"

"My name is Darius Vannick."

"Oh my gods you're the one who is giving me a kidney. I can't tell you how grateful I am to you. Please sit down."

Vannick took a deep breath before sitting down next to his daughter. He couldn't get over how much she looked like her mother, she was her double.

"I can't believe there was someone who is compatible here, what are the chances?"

Vannick couldn't believe how happy and smiley the girl was despite what she was going through.

"Looks like you beat some pretty high odds." Vannick replied with a smile, "So may I ask did you know you were ill before the attack?"

Jenny nodded, "But back then my doctors knew there was enough time before I got to this stage, that's why I was on the field trip to the science station."

"Was the field trip from your school?" Vannick asked.

Jenny shook her head, "No University."

"University at 18?"

"Yeah I was in my final year."

"You must be very smart?"

"So they tell me. I was studying astro physics. I'm hoping that once I'm better I can continue my studies aboard the Columbus."

"I'm sure you'll be able too."

"Mr Vannick can I ask you a very direct question?"

"Sure but only if you call me Darius." He replied with a laugh.

"Okay, Darius, are you my biological father?"

Vannick looked stunned by this, of everything he had not expected her to ask that, "Erm excuse me?" he replied flustered.

"I know I was adopted and one of the perks of being as smart as I am is that I know the chances of me finding a kidney this compatible is from an immediate family member, from a parent or a sibling."

"Yeah I'm your father." He replied.

"Wow, I always hoped that one day I might get the chance to meet you. I have so much to ask you." She said taking hold of his hand.

"I'm sorry I didn't fight more for you," Vannick said as he wiped tears away from his face with his other hand, "Did you have a good life?"

Jenny smiled and nodded, "Yes, my parents were wonderful."

"That's all I ever wished for."

"Can I ask you, why did you give me up for adoption?" Jenny asked.

"Your mother and I were both 15 when you were born. Her parents decided that we were both too young and that I wasn't suitable father material. They decided to give you up. This is the first time I've ever seen you, they wouldn't even let me hold you when you were born."

….

Jennings literally threw the number 4 Cylon out of the raptor and onto Orion's hanger deck at the feet of Commander Garrett who was surrounded by marines.

"You're Cylon model 4 correct?" Vanessa asked.

4 looked up and nodded, "Yes I am and you're Commander Vanessa Garrett."

"We have a lot to talk about." Vanessa replied.

"What makes you think I'll talk to you?" 4 said.

Jawbreaker appeared next to the Cylon and with one hand picked him up by the neck and lifted him off the ground.

"I can be very very persuasive." Vanessa replied with a smile, "Sergeant of the guard, please take our prisoner to the brig."

"Yes ma'am."

As 4 was taken away Garrett and Bojay walked up to Jennings who was putting the last of the bodies onto the hanger deck.

"Are you alright sergeant?" Vanessa asked.

"Yes ma'am. I have some recommendations I need to give to you for medals. My men did good over there, all of them." Jennings replied looking down at his fallen comrades.

"Of course sergeant. Is Corporal Simeon alright?" Vanessa asked.

"She was shot in the leg just before we got onto the raptor. If it wasn't for her we would have a lot more bodies on the deck right now."

"I want you and your men to get some down time. You've all performed brilliantly."

"Commander if I may? If you need anyone to help break the Cylon if he isn't forthcoming with information please let me know. I volunteer to get my hands dirty." Jennings said.

"Thank you sergeant but I'm hoping it won't come to that." Vanessa replied.

"But if it does?"

"If it does you will be the first to know."

Garrett looked up and down the hanger deck as all the fighters were being put back into their bays and the pilots started to head off the deck. Wedge walked over to them.

"How many did we loose?" Bojay asked.

"Six vipers and one raptor." Wedge replied.

"Frak." Vanessa replied.

"Was the mission a success?" Wedge asked.

Vanessa nodded her head, "Yes it was."

"Then at least it wasn't all for nothing. I'm going to hit the shower, please excuse me." Wedge replied.

"Do you want me to talk to the prisoner?" Bojay asked.

"No," Vanessa replied, "I want to question him. However can you ask Jawbreaker once he's done what he needs to do to meet me at the brig?"

"Using brute force to get answers from the Cylon?" Bojay asked.

"I'm hoping intimidation will work." Vanessa replied.

"Well you certainly picked the right person."

"Can you look into sorting out a funeral for Major Hannery and the other marines we lost?"

"Of course." Bojay replied.

"Oh and can you get me an update on Archangel and how Sergeant Vannick and his daughter are doing?"

"Yes ma'am."

…..

The Commander stood and watched the Cylon prisoner through the two-way mirror. For the first time she was looking at a Cylon who genuinely looked terrified. She looked up and smiled as Jawbreaker walked into the room.

"Captain." She said with a smile.

"Commander. So do you want me to rough him up for you?" Jawbreaker replied.

"I'm hoping that if you put on your scary face that will be all it will take. I'm going to go in there first on my own but I'll call you in shortly after. Come storming in and see if we can scare him."

"Nothing physical?" Jawbreaker asked, almost sounding disappointed.

"Not unless I ask."

"Yes ma'am." He replied.

Vanessa took a deep breath and straightened her uniform before walking into the room. Without saying a word she sat in the chair opposite the cuffed Cylon.

"I have a lot of questions to ask you, how you answer them will decide on what we do with you when this is all over." Vanessa said.

4 didn't reply, he just sat looking at her.

"I'm going to cut through the crap and the threats and just ask you. Have you lost the ability to resurrect?"

4 didn't say a word, he just looked at her smiling.

"You may not be scared of me but one word from me and the person who walks through the door will make you answer any question I ask."

"What you're going to send your dog Major Hunter in?" 4 replied.

"No not Major Hunter." Vanessa replied with a smile, "Captain." She said.

The door flew open and crashed into the wall. Jawbreaker strode into the room with a face that would make even the toughest man worried. He walked behind 4 and put his hands on the Cylons shoulders who winced at the contact.

"I'd like to introduce you to Captain Thomlins," Vanessa said, "But you can call him Jawbreaker, everyone else does."

Jawbreaker put his head next to the Cylons ear and whispered, "I'm just here to help you relax a little, so that you won't find it so hard to answer the Commander's questions."

Vanessa smiled at 4, "What happened to your ability to resurrect?"

"What makes you think anything has happened to our resurrection?" 4 replied.

Jawbreaker squeezed one of his hands on the Cylons shoulder making 4 wince again, "You know we humans have all kinds of pressure points on our bodies. You know there's one here on the spine where if enough pressure is applied it will permanently paralyse the person. I wonder if it's the same for Cylons?"

"Captain." Vanessa said in a mock stern way.

"It's just something I've wondered ma'am. I heard this model is the one who has all the medical knowledge, I thought he might be able to answer it for me." Jawbreaker replied.

"Galactica destroyed our resurrection hub. Without that we're mortal, just like you." 4 replied.

"Until you rebuild it?" Vanessa asked.

"We can't." 4 replied, "Because we don't know how to."

"What? How come you do not know how to rebuild some of your own tech?" Vanessa asked.

"Because we didn't build it."

"Then who did?" Vanessa asked.

"I assume the final five." 4 replied.

"The who?" Garrett asked.

"The final five Cylons, none of us know anything about them, who they are, what they look like, anything. It's how we were created, there's nothing more I can tell you any more about that, no matter what Captain Thomlins does to me."

Vanessa thought it seemed as though he was telling the truth but could she ever be sure? She decided to change her line of questioning.

"So what about Galactica? Where are they?"

"Again I have no idea. We stopped keeping track of them around the time we became mortal. Who would have thought such a battered old Battlestar would have caused us so much trouble, they've been as troublesome as you have. As with Galactica we've stopped coming after you as well, with us killing each other we don't need you to help as well." As 4 said that he knew he had said something he shouldn't have.

"What do you mean killing each other?" Vanessa asked.

"Nothing, I didn't mean anything."

"Do you want me to leave the room and leave you with Jawbreaker?" Vanessa asked.

4 looked up at the giant man who was now standing along side him with a sinister smile on his face as he cracked his knuckles. 4 sighed and the continued to speak, "We're in the middle of a civil war, why doesn't really matter but we've been split down the middle. My model, the 4s have sided with the 1s and the 5s while the 2s, 6s and 8s have turned against us and joined with Galactica."

"Adama sided with Cylons?" Vanessa exclaimed.

"Don't look so surprised, the 2s, 6s and 8s have always been more sympathetic to you humans. You have your own pet 6 after all. Speaking of 6 I would like to speak with her."

"That won't be possible." Vanessa replied.

"Commander please."

"It won't be possible because she was killed."

"When?"

"A week ago."

"Then she really is gone." 4 replied.

"Is there any way she may be alive?"

4 shook his head, "No way at all."

"How many of you are left? How many Baseships?"

4 looked at her for a few moments wondering whether he should tell the truth or not, "Approximately thirty."

This surprised the Commander, "Seriously?"

4 nodded, "Yes you've destroyed a lot of our ships, that virus you launched did more damage than you can possibly imagine. Then there are the other colonial survivors who have done a lot of damage themselves. What can I say Commander you've almost levelled the playing field."

Vanessa couldn't hold back the smile that appeared on her face, "Good because now I'm going to turn the tables completely and search and destroy every Cylon ship I can find. Captain." She said as she stood up to leave. Jawbreaker followed his commanding officer out of the room. As he closed the door behind them he could see how happy the commander actually seemed.

"If he's actually telling the truth we can actually win this war." Vanessa said.

"That would be something ma'am. What about Grace though? Do we believe what he's saying?" Jawbreaker replied.

"Do you think he way lying to us?" Vanessa asked.

Jawbreaker nodded his head, "No. I think he's scared for his life."

"So do I. Come on I have to talk to the President and Bojay."

….

Carrie watched as the doctor and nurse worked on her brother, taking the tubes that had been helping him to breathe out. Even though they told her he was going to be okay she was still extremely nervous.

"How long till he wakes up?" Carrie asked.

"It could be a few hours." The doctor replied.

"Thank you." She replied.

"Have you had anything to eat today?" the nurse asked.

"No not yet." She replied.

"Well take this chance to go to the mess and get some food."

"I'll be okay, I don't want him to wake and me not be here." Carrie replied.

"The chances are it will be a few hours, trust me you'll be back before he's awake." The nurse said.

"And if I'm not?"

"Then I'll be here so he won't be alone."

"Okay," Carrie said standing up, "Oh I meant to ask is there any news on Sergeant Vannick and his daughter?"

"They're still in surgery but as far as I'm aware it's going fine."

"Can you also let Commander Garrett know that we're waiting for him to wake up now."

"Of course."

….

"Wow, this is all quite unexpected." Milo said as he sat with Commander Garrett and Bojay.

"He said they are specifically avoiding us." Vanessa replied.

"So do we go on the offensive?" Bojay asked.

"That's what I was thinking." Vanessa said.

"Unless they're luring us into a trap?" Milo said.

"Well I think there is only one way to find out." Vanessa replied, "This is what we've been waiting for. We take them all out then we can finally find ourselves somewhere to live our lives."

"What do you suggest?" Milo asked.

"Right now I don't know. We'll come up with a plan of action and take it from there." Vanessa replied, "While we're all together there is something else we need to talk about. Our Cylon prisoner, what do we do with him now?"

"I'm sure there is an airlock that will fit him nicely." Bojay replied.

"They don't resurrect though now so if we throw him out of an airlock it's technically murder." Vanessa said.

"With all due respect, so what? They murdered billions of us and have been trying to kill us for years now." Bojay replied.

"And look how many hundreds of thousands if not millions we and the other surviving colonial units have killed in return." Vanessa said.

"So exactly what do we do with him?" Milo asked.

"We can always give him an option?" Vanessa said.

"What kind of option?" Bojay said.

"He can stay in the brig for the foreseeable future or he can die." Vanessa replied.

"I'm letting you two decide this one," Milo said.

"Well you're the boss. It's your call." Bojay said.

"There is one other thing we need to talk about," Vanessa said, "Major Hannery was the only marine officer we had."

"Over one thousand marines on the troop carrier and only one officer?" Milo replied.

"The battle group was only supposed to be with us for two weeks before they went back to Picon space dock for an overhaul and extra crew. That's why there was only one officer with them." Vanessa said.

"So what do we do?" Bojay asked.

"We're going to have to choose some of the non coms and promote them." Vanessa replied.

"Any ideas who?" Bojay asked.

"I'm think we take this opportunity and promote a couple of them. Normally I would have suggested putting Sergeant Vannick in charge. He is one of the most experienced marines we have but now he is going to be laid out for a while. I'm thinking we promote Sergeant Jennings to captain and Vannick to lieutenant when he is fully recovered." Vanessa replied.

"So are they the best choices?" Milo asked.

"I think so." Vanessa said.

….

Carrie sat in the mess hall and finished the first meal she had eaten all day. She looked at all the crew, doctors and nurses talking, smiling and laughing while they ate. The morale amongst the crew was the same as it was on Orion and it was nice to see especially with what happened every day. As she reached to pick up her tray and empty plate she nearly jumped out of her chair as Dr Gerrard sat down opposite her.

"Hello Carrie." He said.

"What the frak do you want?" Carrie replied.

"I was hoping to find out how you are and to apologise for what happened to you." He replied.

Carrie clearly on edge and nervous stuttered her reply, "Please just leave me alone, I'm fine but I don't want to speak to you."

"But I need to speak to you."

"I need to go, I have places to be." Carrie replied picking up the tray. Gerrard grabbed her wrist causing her to drop the tray. As it smashed to the ground everyone turned to look.

"It's okay." Gerrard said to everyone.

"Please let go of me and leave me alone."

"We have things that need to be put right." Gerrard replied.

"Just let go of me."

Before Gerrard could say another word a punch flew out of nowhere and connected with Gerrard's jaw sending him crashing to the ground. Carrie who was clearly shaken looked and saw Wedge standing next to her.

"Are you okay?" Wedge asked.

Carrie nodded as she moved closer to Wedge.

"Carrie please." Gerrard said as he stood up.

"I will give you one warning to stay away from her and it's the only one you'll get. Can't you see that you scare her? She has nothing to say to you." Wedge snarled.

"I have things I need to say to you." Gerrard said.

"Please go to your brother I'll be right with you." Wedge said smiling at her.

"Okay." She said before walking off.

When she had left the room with all eyes on Wedge and the doctor. The young pilot went bounding up to him and stopped inches away from his face.

"She has nothing to say to you and you have nothing to say that she wants to hear. What you did to her she is only just starting to get over, not once but twice when the Cylons took her from me. If I ever see you in the same room as her again I will take out my sidearm and I will not stop firing until I hear the click of my empty gun, do you understand me?"

Gerrard shakily nodded his head.

"Is everything okay?"

Gerrard turned and saw two marines standing next to them and nodded his head, "Yes thank you, we're fine."

"Remember," Wedge whispered, "You don't ever want to see me again."

Carrie had managed to compose herself by the time she reached her brothers room. Seeing Gerrard again hadn't crossed her mind in a long time, she had no idea she was going to loose it like that at the sight of him. Anyway, she thought to herself, she had to forget this and be here for her brother.

"How has he been?" Carrie asked.

"He has stirred a little bit but nothing more."

"I spoke to a Lieutenant Phillips aboard Orion. He said that Commander Garrett will be coming over as soon as she finishes some business she has to take care of."

Carrie nodded, "Thank you."

….

Vanessa followed Jawbreaker into the brig where 4 sat alone.

"You've come to kill me then?" 4 asked.

Vanessa sat down opposite him, "No I've come to give you a choice. You stay here in this brig or you die, it's your choice."

"I'm a doctor," 4 said, "I could become a member of your crew?"

"Not an option." Vanessa replied.

"Why? You did it for 6."

"That was different, the circumstances were not the same at all."

"But..."

"No buts, I've given you your options." Vanessa replied.

"It's not really an option is it?" 4 replied, "Stay in here for the rest of my days or die. I think I'll take the first choice."

"Good, now if you excuse me I have somewhere to be." Vanessa said.

….

"Mark." Carrie said has her brother's eyes began to flicker.

The nurse rushed over to him as his eyelids began to move.

"Shouldn't be long now." The nurse said.

….

Vanessa walked through the corridors of the Medstar Compassion. As she passed military personnel they would stop and salute her and she them. She was so glad Archangel was coming round and was going to be okay, but she dreaded having to tell him about Grace. Even though he had told her that he loved her it was going to hit him hard. She stopped at the doorway to his room and saw Carrie, Wedge and Skeeter sat with him along with one of the nurses. As she walked in she smiled when she saw him awake.

"He's just woken up." Skeeter said.

"Is everything okay?" Vanessa asked.

The nurse nodded.

"How you feeling?" Vanessa asked.

"What happened?" Archangel replied.

"You were shot. Don't you remember?" Vanessa replied.

Archangel tried to think, what could he remember, "The last thing I remember is a standoff between my father and I, and a 1, then Grace appeared then nothing. What the hell happened?"

Vanessa tried to hold in the disappointment at Archangel not being able to remember what she told him and he told her. Skeeter looked over at her, he knew what she was thinking as he had been with them both when Archangel had told Vanessa that he loved her.

"The cylon shot you before Grace killed him." Carrie replied.

"Where is she? Is she okay?" Archangel asked.

"Dad shot her before she could shoot him, she didn't make it." Carrie said.

Archangel couldn't speak, he didn't know what to say.

"We captured another cylon and interrogated him," Vanessa said, "The Cylons have lost their ability to download, she's gone."

"The cylon's lying." Archangel replied.

"Grace knew this had happened," Skeeter said, "She told me before we found the NCO fleet, she could feel it."

"What happened to our father?" Archangel asked.

"He's dead." Carrie replied.

"What happened to him?" Archangel asked as he wiped tears from his face.

"I killed him." Vanessa replied.

"Good." Archangel replied.

"Can you not remember anything else?" the nurse asked.

Archangel shook his head, "No, nothing."

"That's not a surprise," the nurse said, "It may come back to you, it may not."

"I have to go," Vanessa said, "It's nice to see you awake."

"Thank you." Archangel replied with a forced smile.

"I'll see you soon." Vanessa said as she walked out of the room. As she walked away she felt like all the wind had been knocked out of her. After all that had happened, when she thought he had been dying in her arms. She felt elated that he was going to be okay but at the same time as though her whole world was falling apart. Somehow she had to put those feelings to one side and get on with things, she prayed he would remember.

"Stupid question but are you okay?"

Vanessa looked up and saw Skeeter walk up to her. She nodded her head in reply.

"He'll remember, you just need to give him some time." Skeeter said.

"Okay." She replied quietly.

"You know if you need to talk or anything I'm here."

"Thank you. I have to go." She said turning and walking away.

Skeeter watched her as she disappeared round the corner.

Vanessa composed herself and minutes later found herself outside Vannick's room. She smiled as she walked in.

"Hello Darius." She said, "Do you have a few moments to talk."

"Of course I'm not going anywhere." Vannick replied, "Please sit down."

"First things first how did it all go?"

"The nurse tells me it couldn't have gone better, we just have to wait and see if it takes."

"I'm glad it went well. Also I thought you'd like to know that Archangel is awake."

"Good, if you see him before I do give him my best."

"I will." Vanessa replied, "I wanted to tell you that the mission was a success but we did take some casualties. Major Hannery was killed during the mission."

"Oh gods." Vannick replied.

"To cut to the chase that causes problems due to the fact he was the only marine officer we had. We've decided we're going to promote Sergeant Jennings to captain and you to lieutenant and his second."

"Really? Are you sure?" Vannick asked.

"Yes, you're the best marine we have." Vanessa replied.

"Thank you." Vannick replied.

"Anyway I'll leave you too it. Give your daughter my best, I look forward to meeting her."

"Thank you commander."

….

As Vanessa flew a raptor back to Orion she looked at her fleet. It was time to go on the offensive and it was time to end the Cylons once and for all.


	27. One For The Road

"Colonel Johnson do you know who I am?"

Bojay sat looking at the man opposite him, trying to get some kind of impression of the man.

"Yes I do. You are Lieutenant Jensen Nicks of the fleet security force."

"Good then we're on a level playing field. Do you know why you're here?"

Bojay scratched his aching head. The hangover he had been suffering from had gone into overdrive. The last thing he wanted was to have to deal with this little man.

"No I have no idea." Bojay replied.

"Come on Colonel, you and your friends have caused havoc across this ship, Captain Jonas is one pissed off man."

"Yeah well Captain Jonas has issues." Bojay replied with a grin.

"Are you a funny man Colonel? Were you your squadrons joker before you made XO?"

"Can we just cut the crap and get to the point?"

"I want to know what happened last night? I want to know why there is a destroyed bar, a man in the infirmary with a toe missing, a botched robbery attempt and dozens of witnesses who say they can put you and your friends at every single event."

"What can I say, we were on a bachelor party, things must have gotten out of hand."

"And because you're the second highest ranking person in this fleet it'll all get washed under the carpet."

"Listen to me I can't remember much of what happened last night, at all. I'm not sure how much help I can be, how much help any of us can be. However I demand Commander Garrett be called and brought here, immediately."

"You're in no position to demand Colonel, no position at all." Jensen replied.

"Then this is over Lieutenant, goodbye." Bojay stood up and walked over to the door.

"SIT DOWN!" Jensen yelled.

Bojay turned and laughed at Jensen who stood up and walked over to him. Bojay looked down at the much smaller man with Devilish eyes and grinned at him.

"Make me." Bojay challenged.

"Colonel the Commander is already on her way, I just wanted to talk to you before she got here to try and get some answers to some questions."

"Then you need to start being more civil. I'm not some criminal being questioned."

Jensen sighed to himself and finding his composure, asked "Would you please sit down Colonel."

Bojay sat back down and took a sip from his water, "Where do you want to begin?"

"The start." Jensen replied.

24 Hours ago

Wedge stood in front of the mirror in his new quarters aboard Orion. He didn't feel right wearing a suit, he never had. He was so used to wearing his dress uniform when he needed to look "smart". He turned as the door to the quarters opened and his fiancée Carrie walked in with a smile.

"Well don't you look smart!" she said walking over to him and giving him a kiss.

"I feel like a lawyer or something."

"Well you look very handsome Captain."

Wedge smiled at the woman who in just under two days would be his wife.

"Honestly I'm just not sure about this bachelor party. I don't even need to have one."

"Yes you do," Carrie replied, "It's as much for the guys as it is for you, all of you deserve it. Plus Jawbreaker will keep his eye on you."

He rolled his eyes in irritated amusement."It's Jawbreaker I'm worried about."

"You're going to the Starburst and you'll have a great time. Then we meet up and get married followed by a week in the luxury quarters on the fleets leisure ship, sounds good to me."

"Are you still meeting up with Bria?"

"Yes I am**,** the President has scored us time at the luxury spa on Starburst, it'll be nice and relaxed."

"Well at least one of us will be." Wedge replied with a laugh.

As the two began to kiss there was a knock on the door. They turned to see Jawbreaker and Bojay standing there smiling.

"Awww look at them, isn't it so sweet?" Bojay said.

"My thoughts exactly Colonel." Jawbreaker replied with a snigger.

"Right you two chuckle heads I want a word." Carrie said.

"Yes ma'am." Bojay replied.

"I want you to have a great time. But if you get Anthony so paralytic he can't stand at our wedding you won't be able to run fast enough to get away from me, do you understand?" Carrie said.

Both men saluted.

"And tell my brother and Skeeter that goes double for them." Carrie said.

"Yes Ma'am." Bojay replied.

"That being said have a lot of fun." Carrie said before handing Wedge his bag.

"See you tomorrow evening." Wedge replied kissing her.

…...

Archangel and Skeeter stood by the raptor which was ready to take them to the Starburst.

"I spoke to the President and he's made sure our suites will be ready." Skeeter said.

"I'm so looking forward to this," Archangel said, "I can't believe my little sister is getting married though."

"I still can't believe you're letting one of your pilots marry her." Skeeter replied.

"She could do much worse than Wedge." Archangel replied.

"That is very true." Skeeter replied.

"Heads up, they're here." Archangel said.

As Wedge, Jawbreaker and Bojay walked onto the deck all the pilots and deck gang alike started to cheer and clap. Wedge, never one for being the centre of attention began to go bright red from embarrassment. He wanted to tell them to cut it out, but he knew that would only make things worse.

He looked back at them and gave them a rather awkward wave before uttering to Archangel,"Can we get out of here."

"What's the rush?" Archangel replied with a chuckle.

Wedge opened the side hatch, it seemed as though it was taking hours to open. When finally it opened he darted inside followed by his friends. Bojay sat in the pilots chair and began to power up the craft.

"You ready to celebrate your last day as a single man?" Archangel said.

"You know we could just get some drink and play some cards in one of our suites." Wedge replied.

"You're kidding right?" Bojay asked, "This is a time to celebrate, we have so few chances to do that. We are going to the Starburst and we are going to get massively drunk before you get married."

"I have to admit in all the years I've known you this is the first time I've heard you complain about a drinking session." Jawbreaker replied.

"Lets just get going." Wedge knew why he was nervous, firstly getting married, but mainly he didn't want anything to happen that could frak things up for the big day and he was with a group of men who, yes were his friends, but also attracted all sorts of trouble.

As the raptor found it's way onto the flight pod the wireless crackled into life.

"LSO this is Orion raptor 43, this is Bojay requesting permission for take off for flight to the Starburst." Bojay said over the COM.

"Bojay this is the LSO, you are clear for take off, have a great time." Captain Vincent Tanner replied. 

"Will do." Bojay said as he gently launched the raptor and flew out of Orion's port flightpod. As he corrected the small crafts course for the Starburst they were joined by the CAP's vipers.

"Raptor 43 this is Orion Viper 70, callsignStreaker, we thought you may like an escort to the Starburst." Streaker said over the COM.

"Streaker this is Bojay good to see you out there," Bojay replied, "Wedge, the guys have come to see the condemned man off." the XO said with a smile, "Want to say hi?"

Wedge picked up the headset from the ECO station and put them on.

"Hey guys this is Wedge, thanks for coming to see me off."

"Wedge, Streaker, just have a great time, we'll see you when you get back."

"Thanks." Wedge replied.

Twenty minutes later Orion Raptor 43 had touched down.

"Here's where the fun begins." Archangel said as the back hatch opened.

…...

"So Mr Kent what do you have to tell me?" Jensen Nicks asked.

"I need to pee." Skeeter replied.

Nicks eye balled Skeeter.

"No seriously, that's what I have to tell you I really need to pee." Skeeter replied.

"Talk to me and I'll let you go." Nicks replied.

"What the frak do you want to know?"

"What I want to know Mr Kent is how you were involved in all the events that happened yesterday?"

Skeeter let out a laugh, "I got drunk celebrating a friends upcoming marriage, one or two things got out of hand and we lost the groom, there that's what happened, can I go piss now?"

"Answer me this Mr Kent, how does someone of your, background come to be the personal bodyguard of the President?"

Skeeter looked a little pissed off by this, "My background? What the frak does that mean? A grease monkey? Oh no I think I know what you mean, a Sagittaron?"

"I was meaning a grease monkey, no need to bring race into this. But then again I do know of your personal relationship with Major Hunter."

Skeeter eye balled Jensen and suddenly the Fleet security officer realised he needed to back down.

"Mr Kent can you please take me through what happened when you and your friends arrived on the Starburst?"

22 Hours ago

Wedge stood alone in his suite. He looked at himself in the mirror, this was going to be a messy night he could feel it already. He reached into his bag and took out a bag of painkillers and put them on the cabinet next to the bed. He had a feeling that he was going to need them in the morning. The silence was ended by the door to the suite opening as Archangel, Bojay, Jawbreaker and Skeeter all poured in. Bojay carried two bottles of Ambrosia, Skeeter a crate of beer and Jawbreaker two bottles of whiskey.

"You ready to get this show on the road?" Skeeter said.

"Just give me one of those beers." Wedge replied with a smile.

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Skeeter replied as he put the crate down on the small coffee table next to the sofa's in the room. He took out a bottle, twisted off the cap and handed it to Wedge who took a long sip.

"How the frak did you manage to get that amount of beer this cold."

"Friends in the right places my man." Skeeter replied, "Honestly the President had this arranged, his little gift."

"Remind me to thank him tomorrow." Wedge replied.

"So you ready to hear the plan of action?" Jawbreaker asked.

"Shoot." Wedge replied.

"We're going to start the night off in this little bar on the entertainment deck. It's a classy place and they've agreed to give us a private booth," Jawbreaker replied with a smile, "Then when we're suitably drunk we're heading off to one of the many strip clubs this place has to offer."

"A strip club?" Wedge replied.

"That's not what he said," Bojay replied, "He said MANY strip clubs. This is your last night of freedom and we're taking you out with a bang!"

"So there's no way I can persuade you guys to stay in here, get suitably shit faced and play some triad?"

"The more you say things like that the more lapdance's you're going to have, so shut the frak up, sit back and enjoy the ride." Bojay replied.

"Here here!" they all said before chinking their bottles together.

An hour later and the five friends were all well on their way to being drunk. They had left Wedge's luxury suite behind and had found themselves on the entertainment deck. They all stood on one of the balconies looking down on the crowds below. People walking around as though the world was still going on as normal, in expensive suits and gowns, treating it as though it were another Saturday night in the high end district of Caprica City.

"Anyone else feel a little dirty?" Skeeter said.

"I know what you mean. People struggling to survive, working their fingers to the bone and then there are these guys just carrying on as if nothing happened." Archangel said

"Guys with all due respect, right here, right now, who gives a frak? We're here to get drunk and celebrate your sister's marriage to this slack jaw." Bojay said.

"Hey!" Wedge explained.

"You've been called worse." Jawbreaker replied with a chuckle.

"I know, but hey!" Wedge replied.

Everyone else laughed.

"Come on, the bar is just down here." Bojay said.

The bar simply known as "Athena" wasn't the type of place they would usually be found in or probably even be allowed into. As soon as they walked in they all felt out of place. People who no doubt viewed themselves as "high class" turned to look at them, what started as an innocent look to see who they were quickly turned into a look of disgust. A stunningly elegantwoman wearing a black evening dress that enticed the male senses and couldn't have been older that her late twenties walked over to them.

"Good evening gentlemen is there anything I can help you with?" she asked with a smile.

"Erm yes actually, I'm Colonel Johnson and we have a reservation for one of your private booths." Bojay said trying to sound confident.

"Of course the bachelor party. Which one of you is Captain Manning?"

"I am." Wedge replied with an awkward smile.

"Well I'm Eva and tonight while you're with us if there is anything I can do to help you enjoy your evening please let me know. Now if you'd all follow me I'll take you to your booth." Eva said.

They followed Eva through the busy bar, Bojay gave a sarcastic wave to a few people as they passed but was only glared at in response.

Eva stopped and signalled them to a booth with two bottles of champagne on ice and glasses.

"If you gentlemen need anything at all please let me know." she said with a smile.

"Your number would be good." Bojay replied with his trademark cheeky smile.

"Have a pleasant evening Colonel." She replied smiling at him in a way that said _I hear that every night._

…...

"So that's all you did at the Athena bar?" Jensen asked.

Skeeter nodded, "We drank, we talked, we had a laugh, we had a good time."

"And nothing else?"

"Well Bojay got the hot hostesses number."

"That's not the type of thing that I'm interested in." Jensen replied.

"It would have been if you'd seen her, she was hot!"

"Fine. That will be all Mr Kent."

"Can I go pee now?" Skeeter asked.

"Knock yourself out." Jensen replied pointing at the door.

As Skeeter ran for the door, Jensen sighed and rubbed his head. As he got up and left the room he was met by one of his team.

"Commander Garrett has just departed Orion, you haven't got long left to talk to them." the woman said.

"Thank you officer, I think I'll talk to the big one next." Jensen replied.

"He's in there." she replied pointing to the next room.

As Jensen walked in Jawbreaker looked nervous. Jensen sat down and looked at the giant pilot.

"I'm guessing you've lost something Captain?"

Jawbreaker nodded.

"Tell me what happened and I'll help you find those rings."

"Okay, I'll tell you anything at all that you need to know. I just need to find those rings." Jawbreaker replied very nervously.

"So Captain, if you can tell me why instead of rings in that box you have a toe that would be fantastic."

17 HOURS AGO

"You have got to be fraking kidding me?!" Wedge said.

"Gentlemen this is the Phantasos strip club and this is where we go next." Skeeter replied.

"Really?" Archangel replied disbelievingly feeling this was some kind of joke before they went to the real club, "This is the classy strip club you've been raving about, it looks like we could catch an STD from the carpet!"

"Before I became the President's body guard and I was out and about in the fleet, I came here a few times." Skeeter said.

"We're here now guys we may as well have a drink or two." Bojay replied.

As they walked into the bar they saw all manner of people. People they knew from military vessels, men dressed as if they'd come from a business meeting and lots of others. They all sat huddledaround tables watching through lecherous eyes as the women danced their enticing movesto the music coming from the club's thumping amplifiers. The air was thick and humid with the moist smell of alcohol and tobacco thickening up in the nostrils of those who consumed it.

…...

"So all you did was drink?" Jensen asked.

"At first yeah all we did was drink." Jawbreaker replied, "That started to go sideways after I started talking to one of the dancers."

…...

Jawbreaker stood at the bar with a glass of ambrosia in his hand, his vision slightly impaired by the sheer amount of alcohol he had been drinking. It all seemed to come back into focus when he turned and smiled at the young brunette standing next to him.

"Hey." he said.

She smiled back, "Hey."

"Can I buy you a drink?" he asked.

She nodded her head, "Sure."

"BARKEEP!" Jawbreaker yelled banging his huge fist on the bar.

"I asked you to stop calling me that!" the young man replied.

"Sorry, I'll have a beer and I want you to get this lady anything she wants to drink."

"I'll have a beer too." She replied, "No one has ever called me a lady before." she said turning to Jawbreaker, her cheeky smirk implying a mischievous nature.

"Well then people are blind." he replied, "So what's your name?"

"Cassie." she replied, "You?"

"Jawbreaker." he replied.

"Wow now that I did not see coming! Did your parents hate you or something?"

"Sorry, said that out of habit, that's my callsign, I'm a pilot from Orion, I'm Andy." he said holding out his increasingly uncoordinatedhand for her to shake.

"So you're one of the guardians of the fleet?"

"I've never been called that!" he laughed.

"Looks like it's a night of firsts for us both." Cassie replied.

"So Cassie may I ask what are you doing in a dive like this?"

She took a swig from her beer, "What can I say I'm a victim of circumstance. I was working here to save money for school, the Cylons attacked and now I'm stuck here. Trust me if I could get out I would."

"So what were you wanting to study?"

"You'll laugh." she replied.

"Come on tell me. I promise I won't laugh."

She paused for a moment before replying, "Astro physics."

"Ah so you're a smart one?"

"Just something that I always enjoyed. I'd considered messaging the Columbia to see if they had any study openings but I don't think they'd take me very seriously."

Jawbreaker could hear defeat in her voice.

"I could talk to some people for you." Jawbreaker replied.

"Yeah I've heard that kind of offer before." Cassie said.

"Hey I'm not like that, my mother raised herself a gentleman."

"Even if you do say so yourself?"

"Even if I do," he replied with a smile, "Seriously, there's nothing worse than unfulfilled potential."

"So should I just quit my job here run away with you?" she joked.

"Why not?"

Sat in a booth across the room Bojay noticed Jawbreaker had been talking to the girl for a while.

"Hey looks like Andy's in luck." he slurred. Pointing over to the bar.

"It's about time." Skeeter replied.

Archangel looked at Wedge who looked like he was about to pass out next to him.

"Looks like Wedge has had enough." He chuckled.

Jawbreaker felt a hand tap him on the shoulder as he talked to Cassie. He turned around and saw a short balding man in his fifties dressed like some sort of Caprican pimp, flanked by two bouncers, who to anyone else would have looked big but compared to Jawbreaker they were tiny.

"What?" Jawbreaker asked.

"Time for you to leave." he replied.

Jawbreaker chuckled, "Do me a favour, piss off."

He turned back to Cassie.

"Cassie, why don't you tell this punk who I am?"

Cassie sighed, "This is the owner of this place, Harry Tanker and my boss."

"That's right, her boss. What's this I hear from the barman about you telling her to quit her job and go with you?"

"That's technically not what I said, Harry and like I said, piss off." Jawbreaker said.

"Boys teach this punk a lesson." Harry said.

The bouncer nearest to Jawbreaker took a swing and connected with the pilots face. He looked amazed and dumbfounded when his face didn't move under the force of the punch.

Jawbreaker smiled and threw a punch back, dropping the bouncer to the ground. Before anyone else could react they were all distracted by Skeeter's war cry as he charged across the bar and dived on the back of the other bouncer.

"You want to take a swing?" Jawbreaker asked Harry.

Harry's eye caught a glimpse of the knife on the bar the barman used to cut the lemons and limes with. As he went for it Cassie had seen what he was planning and reached for it. They both knocked it at the same time and the knife fell off the bar. Everyone watched in what seemed like slow motion as the knife tumbled downwards landing blade tip down onto Harry's foot, through his shoe and severing one of his toes.  
He fell to the ground screaming and clutching his foot. With one bouncer out cold on the floor Skeeter was still on the other's back repeatedly punching him in the side.

…...

"So that's what happened in the bar?" Jensen asked.

"Yeah that's what happened."

Jensen chuckled to himself.

"I take it Harry is a bit pissed off about the toe?"

"You could say that." As he finished speaking Jensen reached into his pocket and pulled out a small clear plastic bag with two wedding rings in the bottom, "Told you I'd help you find them."

Jawbreaker let out a large sigh of relief, "Where the hell were they?"

"No idea if you remember but you've puked your guts up quite a few times since we picked you all up. You'd swallowed them."

"Can I ask, have you any idea where Wedge is?"

…...

"So Major Hunter, I want you to fill me in on what happened after the strip club?" Jensen asked.

Archangel didn't reply, he just looked at Jensen.

"Come on Major, talk to me. The rest of your friends have. What happened after the strip club? I have people saying you stopped a robbery."

Archangel still said nothing. Jensen looked at him for a few moments, trying to read something into the young man sitting opposite him.

"Do you think you're some kind of tough guy? Sitting here like this, as if this is some kind of wartime interrogation and you being quiet thinking you're a some kind of captured spy?" Jensen said.

Archangel still said nothing. Jensen was starting to get very frustrated.

"You're going to give me your name, rank and number next?"

Archangel smiled a little but still said nothing.

"Fine, frak you." He stood up walked to the door and left the room.

Archangel sighed to himself and rubbed his head. The hangover that raged in his skull was awful. He sighed again and rested his head on the table in front of him. His sister was going to kill him!

10 HOURS AGO

"Do you know what that is?" Archangel asked.

"Some ancient necklace or something." Skeeter slurred in response.

"That is the necklace that belonged to a Libron Princess over one thousand years ago. Before the attack these artefacts were put on here to show off to the rich and famous." Archangel replied.

"Wow it's an old necklace, so what?" Bojay asked.

"So what?" Archangel replied as he smiled and wobbled from one side to the other slightly, "I'm going to steal it for my sister as a wedding present."

"WHAT?!" They all exclaimed in unison.

"I'm going to steal it for my sister and give it to her as a wedding present." Archangel replied.

"You're way too drunk to pull something like that off without getting caught!" Skeeter said.

"I've done much harder in worse situations. You know I once took on twenty three guys at once, I was unarmed and I killed seventeen of them?" Archangel replied with a grin on his face, "I probably actually definitely shouldn't have told you guys that."

"Okay so tell us your plan?" Jawbreaker replied taking a swig out of a champagne bottle.

"You guys are going to cause a distraction. Skeeter you're going to go up to those people over there," he said pointing at them, "and you're going to run interference. Bojay you're going to talk to that curator who is looking at us like we just slapped her grandmother and turn on that idiot charm you have." 

"Hey!" Bojay exclaimed.

"Jawbreaker you are going to take that ridiculously massive frame you have and stand in front of that camera over there so it can't see the room. Wedge," Archangel looked around and was the first to notice that Wedge wasn't with them, "Erm guys, where's Wedge?"

They all looked around.

"Oh frak where the hell is he?" Archangel said.

"How long hasn't he been with us?" Bojay slurred.

They all thought in silence for a few moments, racking their brains to think when they last saw him.

"My sister is going to skin me alive." Archangel said.

"Erm Archangel, before we go look for Wedge, I hate to rain on your parade and all but erm, look over there?" Jawbreaker said pointing to someone covered in body armour and a mask walk into the room with a hand gun and fire into the air.

Everyone in the room, including Bojay screamed and ducked for cover.

"Everyone get face down onto the ground or I'll kill you all." a distorted unrecognisable voice said.

Archangel stayed on his feet but swayed from side to side slightly. The figure stopped and looked at him.

"Are you going to be a hero?" the voice asked as the person began to walk over, "Well are you... Archangel?"

This took Archangel by surprise and he didn't get out of the way in time before receiving a kick to the side of the head. He crashed to the ground. He looked up as he gained some of his composure back to see the person pointing their gun down at him.

"I've been waiting a very long time for this." Whoever the person was pulled the hammer back on the gun. Everyone startled as another gun shot went off. One of the security guards had used the distraction to unholster his weapon. The masked gun-person turned quickly and got off a round which hit the guard in the leg causing him to fall to the ground. As the person turned back to Archangel he was already back to his feet and tackled the person to the ground. As Archangel reached for the gun which had been dropped to the ground, the masked person kicked Archangel hard to the face before swatting the gun out of the way and getting to their feet.

"This is not over Major. I shall look forward to seeing you for a third time, soon."

"Holy frak are you okay?" Bojay asked.

Archangel looked over at his friends, "You scream like a little girl." he said with a laugh.

"Erm guys has anyone seen Wedge?" Jawbreaker asked.

…...

Jensen let out a sigh as he left the room. He looked up as one of his other officers came scampering towards him.

"LT." he said looking very nervous.

"What?" Jensen replied.

"She's here."

"Whose here?"

"Commander Garrett and she looks really REALLY pissed off."

As the officer scampered out of sight Commander Garrett and two marines appeared in the corridor in front of him.

"Commander my name is Lieutenant Nicks. Thank you for coming over so quickly." Jensen said.

"Are you charging my men with anything?" She asked, straight to the point.

"Erm no ma'am I'm not. I just needed to get to the bottom of some issues that have happened since they arrived here."

"And did you?" she asked.

"One or two."

"I'd like my men out here now please."

"Of course I'll get them for you."

As all four men came out of the rooms and stood in front of her, they reminded her of naughty schoolboys about to be told off by the head of the school.

"What the frak have you guys been playing at?" Vanessa asked.

"In our defence, of all the bachelor parties I've ever been too, this was probably the most subdued." Bojay replied.

"Oh that makes me feel much better," Garrett replied sarcastically, "You guys are lucky, starting a massive bar fight, cutting off someone's toe. Mike Campbell on the Columbia is freaking out because you threatened him into taking on someone new last night," she said pointing at Jawbreaker, "If it wasn't for the fact that you foiled a robbery I'd kick each of your asses."

"We're really really sorry Commander. For what it's worth, those guys in the bar really did start it all." Skeeter replied.

Garrett turned and looked at him with a look in her eyes that made Skeeter shut up immediately and look at the floor.

"And where the frak is Wedge?"

"We may have lost him at some point last night!" Jawbreaker replied.

"For frak's sake. And do you have anything to say for yourself?" she said looking at Archangel.

"Do you have any painkillers?" Archangel replied quietly.

…...

As the world began to come into vision Wedge realised he had no idea where the hell he was. He shot up and rubbed his eyes before taking a look around. He saw Brother Ramok standing in front of him with a glass of water and some painkillers in his hand.

"Good morning Captain, I trust you had a good night?" he said with a smile.

"I can't remember." Wedge replied.

Ramok handed him the glass and the pills.

"Thank you." Wedge said.

Brother Ramok's prayer sanctuary was a more than pleasant place to wake up.

"How did I get here?" Wedge asked.

"I found you passed out on the ground outside last night. There was no sign of anyone else so I brought you in here." Ramok replied.

"Oh gods what time is it?" Wedge panicked.

"Relax Captain, you have a couple of hours before you are to be married. Enough time to have something to eat and freshen yourself up... a lot. I took the liberty of going to your quarters and bringing some of your things here." he said pointing over to where Wedge's dress uniform hung from a hanger.

"Carrie, have you spoken to Carrie?"

"No I have not. I thought it would be best for everyone involved if she didn't know about the kind of state you were in last night. That can be between us." he said with a chuckle.

"Thank you. Have you seen the guys? I have no idea where they ended up." Wedge said.

"I shall make some enquires for you. Just start getting yourself ready." Ramok replied.

…...

As Archangel chugged a bottle of water to wash down some painkillers in his suite Vanessa and Bojay walked in.

"There's no sign of him." Vanessa said.

"Frak, she's going to kill us all." Archangel replied.

"Commander," a marine said walking in, "There's a call routed through the bridge for Major Hunter."

"I'll take it, I'll try to tidy up whatever mess is about to appear now." She said picking up the phone on the side.

"This is Commander Garrett."

"Ah Commander, this is Brother Ramok, I think I've found someone that may have gotten a little lost." he replied.

"I think I can guess what that may be." Vanessa replied.

"Yes Commander, Captain Manning is here with me in my prayer sanctuary, he is getting ready for his upcoming nuptials."

"Thank you so much, we'll see you shortly."

"I'll look forward to it." Ramok replied.

As she put the phone down she turned to Archangel and Bojay were looking like they were about to explode waiting to hear what she had to say.

"Well?" they both said together.

"That was Brother Ramok. Wedge is with him." Vanessa said.

Relief was apparent on both their faces.

"Thank gods." Archangel explained.

"Now freshen up, the last thing your sister wants is you two stinking of booze and sweat."

…...

As Archangel and the others reached Ramok's prayer sanctuary other people had already started to arrive. They saw Wedge standing at the front of the room.

"You gave us one hell of a fright." Jawbreaker said.

"Sorry guys, to be honest I have no idea how I got here or when I even left you guys." Wedge replied.

"Gentlemen I do not mean to interrupt but Carrie and the others have arrived." Brother Ramok said.

"I'll see you guys in a minute." Archangel said as he left the others to go and see his sister. As he walked into another room he saw her standing talking to the President and some others.

"Well don't you look amazing." Archangel said.

Carrie smiled at her brother, "Thank you. You got him here in one piece then?"

"We most certainly did." Archangel replied.

"Thank you." she replied giving him a hug.

"Well I am going to take my seat," Milo said before giving Carrie a hug and shaking Archangel's hand, "I'll see you both shortly."

"You know I just wanted to say thank you for letting me give you away. With all the crap that we go through all the time, fighting for our lives, with everyone who died, you gave me a reason to stay alive. I wish you could have met our brother, you would have liked him a lot, I see him every time I look at you."

"I wish I could have met him too." Carrie replied.

"I know he would have been as proud as I am if he was here."

Carrie smiled.

"And one more thing. I'm so glad this is Wedge you're marrying, there are so many other people I know on Orion I'd have to kill if it was them."

Carrie laughed, "Shall we do this?" she asked as the music started.

"Yeah lets do this."

…...

Two hours later Orion's main function room was alive with music and people having a great time. The President had pulled out all the stops to make sure this would be a night to remember.

Wedge walked up to the President.

"Mr President I just wanted to say thank you for all this." Wedge said.

"You're very welcome Anthony and call me Milo." he replied.

"Well Milo, thank you very much."

"I just wanted to let you know that the next time you phone Carrie steaming drunk, wait for her to reply before you tell her how much you love her and other things." Milo said.

"Excuse me?" Wedge replied in shock.

"I'm not surprised you don't remember, you were very drunk. You tried to phone Carrie and instead you phoned me."

"Oh my gods I am so embarrassed. Whatever I said I am so sorry."

Milo laughed, "Under the circumstances I'll let you off." he replied before walking off chuckling to himself.

Skeeter and Bria both danced together.

"It's been a really nice evening." Bria said, "I'm having a great time."

"Me too. We don't get enough nights like this." Skeeter replied.

"I can't remember the last time I had a night even remotely like this." she replied with a smile.

"We should have another one." Skeeter said.

"We should be so lucky." Bria replied.

"I'm serious." Skeeter said.

Bria looked at him, "What are you getting at?"

"What do you think?" he replied with a smile, "Will you Bria Thirren marry me?"

"Seriously?" she said utterly surprised.

Skeeter nodded, "Yeah why not? Seize the moment and all that."

Bria smiled up at him, "Okay." she replied.

…...

"So do you want a dance?" Archangel asked, "It's been a while since we've had a chance."

Vanessa took a sip from her drink, "I think we can skip that this time, last time didn't end very well."

"Are you still pissed at me?" Archangel asked.

Vanessa smiled, "No I'm not. We're all cool."

"Good. I am sorry for the mess we caused last night."

"Don't be, it's about time you guys let off some steam."

"Still I can't help but wonder who the frak was under that mask? Whoever it was they knew me."

"I'm sure we'll find out soon enough."

…...

Bria awoke in Skeeter's suite the next morning with a slight hangover. She turned to see Skeeter getting dressed.

"And where do you think you're going?" she asked with a smile.

"I promised Archangel I'd go with him to hanger deck to see his sister off." Skeeter replied.

"Do you want me to come?" she asked.

"Stay and sleep, how often do you get to lay in?"

"Very true, I can't remember the last time."

"Anyway I won't be long, an hour at most. We're going to try and get to the hanger deck before they do. Archangel got this spray stuff to write something on the side of the raptor they're taking to the leisure ship." he said pointing over to the table.

"Okay, wake me up when you get back, I have some ideas of what we can get up too before we go get some food." Bria replied with a cheeky smile.

Skeeter leaned over to her and kissed her, "Do you have any idea how much I love you?"

"It better be at least as much as I love you." she replied.

"I guarantee you it is." He quickly put his shoes on and then headed out.

Bria lay back and smiled to herself, life was indeed very very good. She turned over and saw that Skeeter had forgotten the can he had meant to take.

"I swear sometimes I'm surprised he can tie his shoes!" she said to herself, as she got out of bed and reached for her clothes.

…...

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Archangel said as he met up with Skeeter in the corridor.

"Frak the paint! I'll go back and get it." Skeeter replied.

"Come on we haven't got enough time. We'll manage." Archangel replied with a chuckle.

"Did you have a good time last night?" Skeeter asked.

"I did, I had a wonderful time. You?"

"Oh I had the best night of my life," Skeeter replied smiling, "Keep this to yourself for now, but I asked Bria to marry me."

"That's fantastic, well it is if she said yes?!"

"She said yes." Skeeter replied.

Archangel patted his friend on the shoulder, "I couldn't be happier for you. If anyone deserves to be happy it's you."

As they looked ahead they stopped dead when they saw a young woman standing in front of them with a gun pointed at them.

"Remember me?" she said with a smile.

"Geminion." Archangel replied.

She nodded her head, "I told you I'd get you." she said with a smile.

As she pulled the trigger Skeeter grabbed Archangel in the nick of time and pulled him to the floor, the bullet missing him completely. The woman had turned and ran before they could get back up.

"Thank you." Archangel said.

"Bria?" Skeeter said.

Archangel turned to see Bria slumped to her knees, blood pouring out of a gunshot wound on her neck. She dropped the can of paint Skeeter had forgotten and slumped to the ground.


	28. Blackened

EIGHT YEARS AGO

Speed car racing was one of the most popular sports on Sagittaron. Despite the constant protests from the colonies' more religioussections of society, it was still as popular as it had ever been. The sport was only played on Sagiattaron, Leonis and Virgon but was catching on with the other colonies quickly.

Sagittaron speedway was the planets largest track. Eighteen thousand people were watching the last race of the season. The championship was still undecided. Mike "Skeeter" Kent and Jason Reynolds were the only two racers left in contention for the trophy. The other twenty four were battling it out for the other positionsall vying for the highest position they could still attain in order to satisfy both pride and their professionalism as racers. 

As the race got closer to it's conclusion Skeeter was in first place with Reynolds breathing down his neck, but the young man from Sagittaron had no intention of losing out to the Virgon racer. Rubber burned from the intense friction-producing heat of the tyres hurtling the cars across the track. Reynolds matched Skeeter move for move. It was as if an invisible force had locked them together with one behind the other. Traditional thinking dictated that as long as Reynolds was behind him Skeeter was fine but Skeeter knew better. Reynolds was grafting perfectly behind the young Sagittaron and was waiting for his moment. Although both cars were travelling at the same speed Skeeter's car was working harder than Reynolds' car because Skeeter was punching a hole through the air as he went while Reynolds was hiding in Skeeter's slipstream. Reynolds had some power left to him and when the opportunity presented itself he would pull out, use the excess and pass by.

"Okay Skeeter you're about to hit the last lap," Sam Monroe, Skeeter's pit boss said through the ear piece, "You still holding in there?"

"He's right behind me but there is no way this son of a bitch is going to beat me." Skeeter replied.

"Our readouts say you're good for gas and tires for the final lap, can you confirm?" Sam asked.

Skeeter's eyes glanced down at his gauges and back onto the track again in less time than it took most people to think."Yeah I'm good." Skeeter replied.

As he went into the last lap he checked his rear view. Reynolds was still behind him, maybe less than a quarter of a secondaway. 

"He's going to try and pass me after the next corner." Skeeter said.

"Can you hold him off?" Sam replied.

"Of course I can, there's no way this prick is getting passedme."

****Skeeter's confident voice cloaked his inner nerves. He knew Reynolds' was no rookie but if he could just hold on for one more lap he would take the title.

Danny Maples sat nervously in the stand. The guests of all the other racers sat around him. He recognised many of them from all the other races he had been too that season.

"Is he still in the lead?"

Danny turned to see Alice Tanner, Skeeter's fiancee sit next to him and hand him a hot dog. Just sitting on the sidelines was too much for her and the adrenalin of watching her fiancee risking his neck out there made her fidgety to the point where she had to get up and do something if only to burn off energy. Fetching a Hot Dog offered her the perfect excuse.

"He sure is, but Reynolds is right behind him." Danny replied pointing to the large video screen.

"I can't believe he's so close to winning." Alice said.

"I knew he would." Danny replied before taking a large bite from his hot dog.

Skeeter knew it too and as he looked at Reynolds in his rear view mirror he could almost read Reynolds' thoughts screaming at him that now was his time. Both cars approached the entry to the corner, their engines howling like angry Bees. The corner was to the left and Skeeter took the same line into it he had done each time so far. He took the car out to the right keeping the power on until he began to enter the start of the radius. It was critical he didn't pull off the power too early or Reynolds would take the lead but by the same token if he were too late he would take the corner wide when he put the power back on and would probably go off.

Reynolds kept his tight line behind Skeeter. Suddenly Skeeter's car seemed to drop back bringing his rear bumper closer to Reynold's front as Skeeter eased off the gas to avoid understeering through the bend. This was the time. Skeeter was setting up his turn and Reynolds would have to hold off from releasing his gas pedal just that bit longer. Reynolds threw the wheel to the left and sent his car hurtling towards the inside of the turn. Clear of Skeeter's car he used the conserved power he had and surged forwards.

"Bastard!" growled Reynolds as Skeeter's car appeared from the right just as he was beginning to pass. Reynolds had no choice but to go further left to avoid a collision. He instinctively braked and the car nodded on its front wheels as Skeeter surged away.

"Frak yeah!" screamed the triumphant race car driver as he emerged from the turn with a decent distance between him and Reynolds. "This is what we do!"

Skeeter's car roared passed the finish line. Reynolds was barely a second behind but to him and indeed any race car driver it may as well have been a lifetime. 

The last lap was intense to watch for Skeeter's fiancee and best friend and for the rest of the crowd. Danny suddenly reminded himself to breathe as Skeeter raced across the finish line in first place. The crowd erupted in cheers as did Danny and Alice who both jumped in the air before hugging each other.

"Come on, lets go down to the pit." Alice said.

As Skeeter pulled into the pit lane he could see the crowd who were there to support him cheering. As he came to a halt his team came rushing over to him, all of them already celebrating as well.

"You glorious son of a bitch." Sam said hugging him.

Skeeter smiled, "Same as always."

After receiving congratulations from the other members of the team he was bear hugged out of nowhere by Danny.

"I knew you'd do it!" he yelled.

"Cheers buddy." Skeeter replied with a smile.

"Not bad." Alice said before giving him a kiss.

"Not bad for a kid from Freedom huh?" Skeeter replied.

"Heads up." Sam said.

Skeeter turned to see Jason Reynolds walking towards him. Jason had been trash talking Skeeter a lot in the run up to the race, so no one knew quite what to expect from him. He stopped in front of Skeeter and eye balled him for a few moments before holding out his hand.

"Congratulations, that was one hell of a race." Reynolds said.

Skeeter shook the man's hand, "Thanks, I'll see you next season?"

"You bet your ass you will." Jason replied.

The celebrations went on late into the night. Skeeter walked to his car with the championship trophy in one hand and Alice's hand in the other.

"Are you sure you don't want to head back with us?" Sam asked.

"We're going to head back the long way." Skeeter replied.

"There's a hotel by the coast we're going to stop at for a few days." Alice replied.

"Fair enough," Sam replied, "We'll make sure Danny gets home okay."

Skeeter had never been so happy in his life, a beautiful fiancee who he loved dearly, a thriving business and now a championship winning trophy and that had been won in only his second season on the circuit.

The dark winding roads Skeeter had chosen to drive on had been deserted for nearly an hour now. He knew the roads well though as he had been on them many times before. He looked over at Alice who was sound asleep and smiled to himself.

In the rear view mirror he caught a glimpse of headlights behind them. They were only twenty minutes away from the hotel. He looked into the rear view mirror again, the car was now much closer, whoever it was must have their foot down. On this road Skeeter couldn't help but think that was a mistake. Minutes later the car was right behind them.

"Stupid fraker." Skeeter said under his breath.

He began to slow down so whoever it was could over take. Moments later the car was overtaking and along side them. Skeeter turned and looked at the young man along side them.

"Fraking moron." Skeeter mouthed.

The man grinned back at Skeeter before smashing his car into them. Skeeter struggled to control the car as it smashed into the rocks besides them. Alice awoke and screamed as Skeeter completely lost control and the car as it hit some rocks and flipped over. The seconds that followed seemed to slow down and last for what seemed like an age as the car slid down the road on it's roof before coming to a stop by hitting more rocks. Skeeter knew he was injured but he wasn't sure how badly. He looked over at Alice who wasn't moving.

"Alice can you hear me?" Skeeter managed to ask.

She didn't reply. Skeeter saw the red lights of the car ahead stopping. Skeeter reached for his seat belt and braced himself before pressing the latch, sending him crashing onto the roof, which was now below him. He yelled in pain before reaching over to Alice to feel for a pulse which was there but very faint. He saw the man walking towards them. Skeeter forced himself out of the window and into the tarmac. He managed to get to his feet but felt his knee go out from under him, making him crash to the ground. The man walked up to him and chuckled as he did.

"Well this couldn't have worked out any fraking better," the man said, "First you call me a fraking moron and then I realise that you're the man who lost me eight hundred cubits today."

"Please help us, we need an ambulance." Skeeter replied.

The man laughed out loud, "What and then go to prison? I think I'll just leave you here to bleed to death."

The last thing Skeeter saw was the man's boot as it came towards his face.

PRESENT DAY

Skeeter hadn't felt so terrified since he saw Danny dying in front of him. He rushed along side Bria as she was being rushed to the infirmary. She looked up at him through the pain as she struggled for breath.

"You're going to be okay," Skeeter knew he was lying as he spoke, "I love you Bria."

As they reached the infirmary, Skeeter was pushed away by one of the medics.

"You need to wait here sir." the medic said.

"Can you save her?" Skeeter asked.

"I don't know, let us do our jobs." the medic replied.

Archangel frantically looked through the crowd of people he had chased the woman into. He had seen her before, all those years ago on Geminon, the one who got away. As she had all those year ago, she had evaded him, again!

"Son of a bitch." he yelled startling the people around him.

He pushed through the crowd to one of the emergency phones on the wall. He smashed the glass covering it and grabbed the handset.

"Bridge" he said to the surprised voice on the other end. The moments passed before a voice came through on the other end.

"This is Communications Officer Andrews, this line is for emergencies only."

"This is Major Mark Hunter of the Battlestar Orion, I need all air traffic too and from the Starburst suspended now."

"I don't have the authority to do that Major and this line if for emergencies."

"This is a fraking emergency, put me on with someone who has got the authority."

"Major, security is on the way to you now, please stay where you are and they will be able to help you."

"GODS DAMN IT, put me on with Captain Jonas, NOW."

"Major, security will be right with you."

"One of my friends has just been shot and I'm trying to stop the person who shot her. For fraks sake put me through to Captain Jonas."

"Major please calm down, security will be right with you."

"You stupid mother fraker." Archangel yelled before smashing the hand set against the wall.

Rage filled him, if they weren't going to help him, he'd do this himself. He turned around to see people had stopped and were staring at him. Four of the Starburst's security team stood with their side arms pointed at him.

"You need to calm down sir and come with us." Security Sergeant Wise said.

"My name is Major Hunter, I'm from the Battlestar Orion. One of my officers has just been shot and I need to get all the air traffic on and off this ship stopped before the person who shot her gets away."

"Private Williams get in touch with the infirmary, see if he's telling the truth." Wise said.

"Gods damn it I don't have time for this, she could be getting off the ship as we speak." Archangel replied.

Moments later Williams reappeared, "He's telling the truth."

Wise took out his radio, "Bridge this is Security Sergeant Malcolm Wise, I need all air traffic suspended too and from the ship immediately."

Skeeter couldn't sit down, he couldn't even stand still. He watched as the doctors fought to try and save Bria's life. Moments later Bojay appeared at the door.

"What the frak happened?" he asked.

"Bria's been shot. A woman, I don't know who she was, she... she tried to shoot Mark. I pulled him out of the way but Bria... oh gods Bria was behind us trying to catch up. I'd forgotten a tin of paint, a tin of fraking paint. She got shot in the chest because I forgot fraking paint." Skeeter yelled before he kicked the wall hard.

"Where is Archangel?" Bojay asked.

"Chasing after the woman who shot her." Skeeter replied.

Alarms started to go haywire. Skeeter and Bojay both turned to see the doctors shocking Bria. Everything seemed to slow down as Skeeter watched. Past memories flooded back, Alice and Danny rushed through his mind. Suddenly as if from nowhere a doctor was standing in front of him. Skeeter watched as they pulled a sheet over Bria's head.

"... I'm sorry, we did everything we could to try and save her."

Skeeter pushed passed him and out into the corridor, it felt as though he was walking through mud. He fought to keep breathing, he fought to hold it together. He couldn't hear a word anyone was saying as he walked, everything just seemed mumbled.

"Skeeter."

Skeeter stopped when he heard his name, he turned to see Bojay standing in front of him. As the world came flooding back to him it felt as though he had been punched in the gut. Heart broken, Skeeter broke down in tears. Bojay hugged his friend.

"We'll catch the fraking bitch who did this to our girl and we'll make her pay." Bojay said as he began to cry at the loss of his best friend.

…...

Commander Garrett walked onto the CIC feeling a little worse for ware. She had joined in the celebrations the night before and was now paying the price. She opened the bottle of pain killers in her hand and took two, "Gods I hope these work," she thought to herself.

"Commander," Lieutenant Phillips said, "All air traffic too and from the Starburst has been suspended."

"What the frak, has something happened?" Vanessa asked.

"Not that we've been informed of, should I put in a call?"

"Yes pleased lieutenant." Vanessa replied.

Phillips opened a channel to the massive luxury liner, "Starburst this is Battlestar Orion. Why has your air traffic been suspended? Are you in need of assistance?"

"Orion this is Captain Jonas, please put me through to Commander Garrett." came the reply.

"Commander, Captain Jonas has requested to speak to you." Phillips said.

"Put him through." Vanessa said. She picked up the handset in front of her, "This is Orion actual, go ahead."

"Commander, we've had an incident." Jonas replied.

"I gathered that from your air space being closed."

"One of your officers, Lieutenant Thirren has been shot and killed."

"What! What the hell happened?"

"We don't know the details yet. Major Hunter requested out hangers to be closed, but from the incident happening to it actually being closed down, several ships departed. As of now we're not sure whether the killer is still aboard."

"Do you have any security footage of the incident so we can get an ID?"

"We're looking into it now."

"Please ask my XO who is on your ship to take the lead on this."

"Of course." Jonas replied.

"Can you please also make preparations to have the body transported to Orion."

"Of course Commander and may I also say how very sorry I am for your loss. Please convey my condolences to your crew."

"Thank you." Vanessa replied before hanging up.

She took a deep breath before she realised everyone in the CIC was looking at her.

"Commander has someone been killed?" Phillips asked.

Vanessa nodded, "Lieutenant Thirren. Colonel Johnson will be heading an investigation from the Starburst. Please make sure he has all the help he needs."

Phillips nodded his head, he seemed as shocked as everyone else, "Of course."

Vanessa checked her watch, "Please take the deck, if I hurry the raptors will still be in their morning briefing."

"Aye aye ma'am."

…...

Skeeter sat next to Bria in utter silence, he sat and held her hand. He couldn't help but feel this was his fault. If he got close to people they ended up dead, he should never have let Bria get so close to him. But he was so in love with her.

"I'm so sorry," he said through the tears, "I love you so much."

"Mr Kent, we have to prepare Lieutenant Thirren for transport back to Orion." one of the nurses said.

Skeeter nodded his head before kissing Bria on the forehead.

"Can you let me know before she goes back to Orion so I can go back with her?" Skeeter asked.

"Of course."

As he turned he saw Archangel walk into the room.

"I'm so sorry." he said before giving his friend a hug.

"Did you catch her?" Skeeter asked, "Is she dead?"

"No not yet, but it's only a matter of time. But I promise you, when I do, I'll make her suffer."

"Okay." Skeeter simply replied.

Archangel had never seen Skeeter so defeated in all the years he had known him.

…...

"Commander on deck." Hydra said as the Commander walked into the raptor pilots briefing room.

"At ease please. Captain, may I have the room?"

"Of course." Hydra replied.

Vanessa took the podium and looked at all the pilots for a moment before she spoke, "Ladies and gentlemen please give me your eyes. There is no easy way for me to say this so I'll just come right out with it. I've just received word that Bria has been murdered aboard the Starburst."

"Oh my gods, what happened?" Hydra asked.

"It's not clear yet," Vanessa replied, "We will keep you informed as we find out more. Her body will be brought to Orion shortly. I know loosing someone never gets any easier. With all the people each of us has already lost we'd be forgiven for thinking it might get easier but still it doesn't. I don't mean to sound heartless but we need to hold it together. We need to look to each other for strength and for support."

…...

Archangel brought the raptor to a complete stop on Orion's flight deck and powered down. He turned to see Skeeter sitting quietly in the back.

"Are you ready for this?" Archangel asked.

"No not really." he replied.

Archangel patted his best friend on the shoulder, "Lets do this."

Skeeter nodded before Archangel pressed the release for the back hatch. Two medics were waiting with a gurnee and the deck was lined with pilots and officers. The medics moved towards the raptor.

"No." Skeeter said.

Both the medics look to Archangel.

"We've got this." he said.

He and Skeeter both took hold of one end of the body bag containing Bria and carefully lifted her out. They carefully placed her onto the gurnee. As the medics took her away, everyone on the deck saluted.

8 YEARS AGO

Danny Maples stood by the shuttle stop on the main street of Freedom. It had been a month since they had buried Alice and Skeeter had been on a downward spiral since then.

They had cut down on the amount of work in the garage as only Danny had been doing any work. Skeeter had been drinking heavily and had barely left his house in weeks. Danny had been worried and hadn't known what to do. When Archangel had managed to get some leave, Danny had been releaved. As he saw the shuttle bus approach he breathed a sigh of relief. Moments later it pulled up along side him and the doors hissed open. People started to get off. He smiled when he saw his friend get off and bear hugged the man.

"It's so good to see you." Danny said.

"You too buddy. How is he?" Archangel asked.

"Not good. He won't leave the house and he's drinking a lot." Danny replied.

"Come on, lets go see him." Archangel replied.

It didn't take them long to walk to Skeeter's house. Danny had been filling him in on how Skeeter had been and what had been going on in their home town. When they reached the door Danny pressed the door bell. They both waited but there was no reply.

"Are you sure he's home?" Archangel asked.

Danny nodded, "He hasn't been outside for a week. He's in."

Archangel tried the door but it was locked.

"Come on lets try the back door." Archangel said.

They walked around the side of the house, but the large wooden gate was locked.

"What now?" Danny asked.

"Stand aside." Archangel replied.

Danny took a few steps away to the side. Archangel took a run up, jumped off the wall, grabbed the top of the gate and jumped over landing neatly on the other side.

"Whoa." Danny said to himself.

Archangel unlocked the gate and opened it for his friend.

"Mark that was once of the coolest things I've ever seen." Danny said.

"Just something I've picked up." Archangel replied.

The two men walked around the back of the house to the door. Archangel tried the door and it opened.

"Skeeter are you here? It's Mark and Danny."

There was no reply. They walked through the kitchen and into the living room. Skeeter sat in the dark. The coffee table in front of him full of beer cans and whiskey bottles.

"Looks like I forgot to lock the back door." Skeeter said.

"Good to see you too." Archangel replied.

"What do you guys want?" Skeeter asked before finishing his beer.

"We came to see if you're okay." Danny replied.

"Well you did and I am so you can go now." Skeeter replied.

"Why don't you come to my place we can order a pizza and catch up."

"Maybe another day."

"Come on Skeeter, you can't stay inside all the time," Danny said, "I'm worried about you."

"Look guys I appreciate your concern but I'm really not in the mood," he said as he opened another can, "I don't mean to be an ass hole but I just want you to go away. We can do this tomorrow okay?"

Danny looked at Archangel, unsure of what to do.

"Okay but tomorrow I'm going to hold you to that." Archangel replied.

"Okay I promise." Skeeter said.

"Just remember we're here for you." Archangel said.

TODAY

Two weeks had passed since Bria's death. Archangel was still very worried about Skeeter. The way he had been behaving reminded him of when Alice died. President Vents had given him time to try and get himself together and no one had seen him since. Archangel and Bojay had taken it upon themselves to find the woman who had killed Bria. Archangel had hoped when they did, it might bring Skeeter some peace. Bojay had roped in Mike Campbell to help. He had used his vastly superior computer skills to make a program to search through all the ships manifests and video footage to find her. Even so due to the lack of video surveillance on some of the ships, it wasn't hopeful. He walked into the Commander's quarters ready for the weekly meeting with the President. As he sat down he poured himself a coffee.

"Good morning." Archangel said.

"Good morning Major. Have you heard anything from Skeeter?" Milo asked.

Archangel shook his head, "Nothing. I was going to ask if you wanted me to look for him and bring him back?"

"No he'll come back in when he's ready." Milo replied.

"I hope so." Archangel replied.

"Have confidence in your friend Major." Milo said.

"Right then gentlemen down to business. I've been talking to the refinery shops and our fuel situation is a little clearer and unfortunately it's worse than we thought. We have nine weeks before we have a decision to make. If we haven't found any more tilleium we either carry on and hope we get luck or we turn around and head to Haven." Vanessa said.

"Do you have a plan of action?" Milo asked.

"The nine days is taking into account sending out scouting missions. I'm planning on sending the Medlia out later on this morning. Major can you put together a rosta for sending raptors out?" Vanessa asked.

"Of course. It will give them something to take their minds off things." Archangel replied.

"We should at least brief the ships captains of this and I'll brief the Quarrum this afternoon." Milo said.

"Wouldn't that be sods law if we ended up back there." Bojay said.

"Lets just hope it doesn't come to that." Vanessa said.

"My next job is to choose a new Vice President," Milo said, "The Quarrum have come up with quite a few suggestions."

"Any that you like?" Vanessa asked.

"Not particularly. A lot of them are strategic choices but I don't really think there are any I could work with." Milo said.

"Do you have any choices of your own?" Vanessa asked.

"There is one." Milo replied.

"Well?" Bojay asked.

"I'm playing my cards close to my chest until I've spoken to them. Lets just say it's someone we all approve of." Milo said.

…...

The Echo Moon was one of the least desirable ships in the fleet. Full of black market goods, it was allegedly run by a former member of the Tauron maffia. There were no families and no one who didn't know how to handle themselves. Skeeter walked through the corridors, keeping himself to himself. Someone had tried to pick a fight with him in one of the the bars a couple of nights ago. Skeeter being the new face aboard had been an easy target. However the man who had tried to make an example of the new face had regretted it. Skeeter had calmly finished his drink before beating the man unconscious and then had ordered another drink. People had given him a wide birth since then.

The further he walked through the bowels of the ship the less people were around. He reached the door he had been looking for, broke the lock and walked inside. The small quarters were empty. Whoever was living there wasn't at home at that moment. Skeeter reached into his inside jacket pocket and took out a high voltage tazer gun, before pulling a chair out of sight of the door and made himself comfortable. He didn't know how long he would have to wait, but he was ready. He had already taken some stims so he was prepared.

He took out his hip flask and took a drink from his whiskey. He had been waiting for this moment, he was going to enjoy what he had planned.

After half an hour of sitting with his own thoughts he heard the door open. He pointed the tazer and waited. As the woman who had killed Bria saw him the look on her face was utter shock. Skeeter smiled and winked before firing the tazer. The barbs hit their mark and Skeeter kept his finger on the trigger. The woman fell to the ground, convulsing as the 50,000 volts surged through her. When he let go of the trigger she didn't get up.

"I just wanted you to know, I'm going to frak you up." Skeeter said before knocking her out with his boot.

He took a deep breath and smiled to himself.

…...

Orion's main gym was busy as usual. Jawbreaker walked in for his daily work out. He walked over to the treadmill as the always did and walked past Commander Garrett using one of the punch bags. He was impressed with her but knew how he could help her improve.

"Good morning Commander." Jawbreaker said.

"Good morning Captain." Vanessa replied.

"I've been seeing you in here much more recently." Jawbreaker said.

"I'm wanting to get in shape before taking some self defence training. I'm sick of getting my ass kicked." she said with a smile.

"Can I offer you my services?"

"Thanks but I think I'll be okay."

"I want you to do something for me."

"Depends on what it is?" she replied.

"I want you to give me your best shot. If you can put me on my ass I won't ever mention this again. If you can't I want you to let me help you. I'll teach you how to kick anyone on this ships ass."

Vanessa smiled and took a swing at him, connecting with his jaw. His head snapped to the side but he stayed on his feet.

"Ouch." Jawbreaker said, "You've got some strength there, I can show you how to use it."

Vanessa smiled, "What the hell, lets do this. I do need to tell you that my shoulder still isn't great."

"It will be." Jawbreaker replied with a smile.

…...

Raya Miles began to come back into consciousness. Her whole body hurt. She felt hot and there was a lot of noise. As her eyes adjusted she saw Skeeter sitting opposite her. She tried to stand up and pain exploded from her hands. She looked down and saw her hands were nailed to the arms of the chair and her wrists were bound to the chair arms with sharp wire.

"What the frak?" she said.

"Do you know who I am?" Skeeter asked.

She shook her head.

"The woman you murdered, she was the woman I loved."

"For what it's worth I wasn't trying to kill her, I was aiming for Hunter."

"So that makes it better? So instead of killing the woman I love you were trying to kill my best friend?"

"This isn't going to change any of that!"

"We'll see." Skeeter replied.

"Listen to me, it was old business. If he'd seen me, he would have done exactly the same thing."

"Except he wouldn't have killed an innocent bystander."

Raya let out a laugh, she couldn't help herself, "Really? I know you know what he used to do. But my gods you have no idea of the specifics. Amongst the circles I've moved in he is a myth, his story was legendary. He's murdered more people than you've ever met."

"We're not here to talk about how many people Major Hunter has killed. Bria isn't the first person I've loved that I've lost like this. My fiancee Alice, she was murdered and my best friend Danny well his death was very brutal. I tried to take revenge for Alice, but when it came to it, the chance to take that revenge was taken from me. With Danny I never had the chance for revenge, he was killed by a Cylon. For the longest time I've been filled with rage, rage that I have had no way of getting rid of. Now when this happens, I take a little time, do a little home work and then I get you. I've got all that rage, all that need for revenge and now I have you to take it all out on. We're going to have some fun and the best part, we are in a part of the ship that no one ever comes near."

"People will notice I'm gone."

"And somehow I just can't seem to care."

8 YEARS AGO

Skeeter walked into Archer's bar. It was mid afternoon and there were only a few people inside. He walked over to Archangel and Danny who were both sitting in a booth.

"Hey guys." Skeeter said as he sat down.

"Hey buddy, how are you today?" Archangel asked.

"A little hung over but not too bad. Sorry about yesterday."

"Hey it's okay, we just want to be here for you." Danny replied.

"I'm feeling a little better today actually." Skeeter said.

Archangel looked at Skeeter and knew there was something else going on. One thing he could do very well was read people.

"Danny can you do me a favour?" Archangel asked.

"Sure thing Mark." Danny replied.

"Can you go to the bar and get us some drinks?" Archangel replied handing Danny some money.

As Danny walked off Archangel turned to Skeeter.

"What's going on?" Archangel asked.

"I don't know what you mean." Skeeter replied.

"Come on dude, don't insult me. I can see it on your face. No what is going on?"

Skeeter lit a cigarette and took a drag before he replied, "I found the mother fraker."

"What do you mean you found him?"

"I mean exactly what I said, I found him."

"Are you going to tell the cops?"

Skeeter laughed, "Frak no, I'm going to kill him."

"What?" Archangel replied in shock.

"I'm going to find him and I'm going to beat him to death."

"You can't do that!"

"Why the frak not?"

"Because it's murder." Archangel replied.

"He can't get away with what he did!"

"There are better ways to do this than resort to murdering him, to sink to his level."

"Alice is dead, I don't care if it's murder, I don't care if I get caught and go to jail and I don't care if I get killed as long as that bastard is dead." Skeeter replied.

Archangel was so taken a back, he didn't know what to say.

"Do me a favour, I want you to come round to my place tonight so we can talk about this in private," Archangel said, "Don't do anything before we've spoken."

"Okay." Skeeter replied.

As he finished speaking Danny appeared with a pitcher of beer and an extra glass for Skeeter.

"Archer says we should come tomorrow at lunch time so he can do us some food and talk to us." Danny said handing Archangel his change.

TODAY

Jawbreaker was already working the Commander hard. As they finished their workout Vanessa's shoulder was hurting like hell.

"You in pain?" Jawbreaker asked.

Vanessa nodded, "Yeah but I've got some pain killers, I'll be fine."

"Hopefully you should be okay soon." 

"Hopefully." she replied, "So can I ask who taught you all this?"

"It started with my old man. He wanted me and my sisters to be able to handle ourselves."

"I could have used being able to defend myself from my Dad." Vanessa said.

"You two really didn't get on did you?"

"That's a massive understatement." she replied.

"Can I ask, is that why you're doing this now? In case we come across them?"

"I'm tired of being a victim," she replied, "If I'm supposed to lead by example I need to be able to show the crew that I can handle myself. First the Cylons, then the NCO and yeah maybe one day we'll come across Admiral Lionel Garrett. Put a gun in my hand and I can put any target down that comes at me, but I need to be able to defend myself hand to hand."

"Well Commander by the time we're done, you'll be able to kick anyone's ass." Jawbreaker replied.

Vanessa laughed.

"And for the record no one sees you as a victim."

"You sure about that?"

"Trust me." Jawbreaker replied.

…...

On the Caprican Sunrise life was going on as usual, the politicians went about their days and jobs as usual. Mrs Carrie Manning had just arrived from Orion, ready for another day. She was still getting used to her new name, trying to remember to say and sign Manning instead of Spencer hadn't come naturally to her yet. A day of meetings was ahead of her and another day of preping the President.

As she walked into the President's office she put her bag down and poured herself a cup of coffee. As she put the papers the President would need for the day on his desk she looked up and smiled as he walked in.

"Good morning Carrie." he said with a smile.

"Good morning Milo, ready to talk about fuel problems all day?"

"Yes and I don't think they're going to be happy about where we might end up." Milo replied.

"Well when it comes down to it, if you and the Commander say so, that's what we do." Carrie replied.

"Changing the subject completely, do you know if your brother has heard anything from Skeeter?"

Carrie shook her head, "Nothing. He doesn't seem worried yet, if he is he's keeping it close to his chest."

"I can't say I'm not worried because I am, I know what he's been through before."

"Skeeter will be okay, he's strong."

"I hope so, he's a good man."

"When I do hear anything you'll be the first person I tell."

"Carrie there is something else we need to talk about."

"Sounds ominous." she replied.

"It's about the Vice Presidency."

"Yes and I think if we keep chipping away at Wallace Gray he'll give in."

"Forget Gray, he's happy as the Speaker of the Quorrum."

"Please tell me you're not going with any of the Quorrum choices." she said before taking a sip from her coffee.

"No I want you to take the position." Milo said.

Carrie nearly choked on her coffee and began to cough, "What?" she said between coughs.

"I want you to be my Vice President."

"Why me?" Carrie asked.

"You're the hardest worker I have and you put the well being of the fleet first. You have the ear and respect of the military. I trust you Carrie and I know you've got my back."

"Holy crap, I never expected this when I woke up this morning."

"So what's your answer?"

"Yes of course, do you think the Quorrum with approve?"

"We'll find out later this morning." Milo replied.

…...

Raya was in more pain than she had ever experienced in her life.

"Why don't you just fraking kill me?" Raya said.

"Because I'm not ready to end this yet. You know I've got no idea what Archangel was trained to do for torture or what you've done, but I'll tell you this, I've watched a lot of movies so I've got some ideas."

As he finished speaking he took a knife out from his bag. He stood up and walked over to one of the pipes that took the red hot air from the engines. He wrapped a cloth around the handle and held it onto the pipe.

"I've always wondered how painful it would be to use one of these. I saw it in a movie where someone used a red hot life to cut out someone's eye."

"Oh gods no, please don't cut out my eye!" Raya exclaimed before bursting into tears.

"I thought you were a trained killed, I didn't expect you to cry."

"I'm not a trained killer, I'm a fraking cleaner!"

"I thought cleaners went in after the fact and cleaned up after the murders."

"That's what I did, I also went in when people fraked up and left someone alive. There has been a hit on your friend's head for the last couple of years. Either the people who tried to take him out end up dead or the rest of them didn't managed to find his identity."

"Now down to business." Skeeter said.

"Please don't cut my eye out." Raya begged.

Skeeter plunged the knife into her shoulder and twisted it. Raya screamed in pain before he tore the blade out.

"You know I very nearly killed the bastard who killed Alice," Skeeter said as he stabbed her in the knee, "It was down to drink last time. I fell into a rut and drank way too much, I lost any advantage I had because I could barely stand up."

8 YEARS AGO

Skeeter sat in Archangel's living room, he opened a bottle of ambrosia he had brought with him.

"So you know where he lives?" Archangel asked.

"Yeah in the capital. I'm going to pay him a visit."

"And do what exactly?"

"I told you that yesterday, I'm going to beat the fraker to death."

"I'm begging you not to do this."

"What would you have me do instead?"

"We make sure he lives there and then we go to the cops."

"I don't want to go to the cops, I want to deal with this myself. I had to watch the woman I love die horribly because of that son of a bitch. I need you to be on my side here, I need you to understand why I need to do this."

Archangel looked at his friend and knew there was no way he was going to talk him out of this.

"So what do you know?" Archangel asked.

"Why do you want to know?" Skeeter replied.

"Because I can see there is no way I'm going to talk you out of this, so I'm going to come along and watch your back."

Skeeter lit a cigarette before he replied.

"His name is Tyler Green and he works in a garage in the capital."

"How did you find this out?" Archangel asked.

"I have my ways."

"What's the plan?"

"Tomorrow night I'm going to wait for him to finish work and take it from there."

"How are you going to cover your tracks?"

"Not really something I've been thinking about."

"If you're going to do this, then you really need to think about it. If you get caught you'll go to jail for a very very long time. For example, don't leave your prints everywhere."

"You're sounding like you've done this before yourself."

"I want you to wait for me so I can come with you. Will you promise me you won't go anywhere without me?"

Skeeter nodded his head, "It takes three hours to get there, so make sure you're here at 3pm, if you're not here, I'm not waiting."

"Don't worry, I'll be here." Archangel replied.

At 2.30pm the following day Archangel pulled up outside Skeeter's house. He knew he wouldn't talk his friend out of it, but he'd be damned if Skeeter would get caught doing it.

He knocked on the front door and waited. The longer he waited, the more he worried. He walked to the garage next to the house and looked through the side window.

"Mother fraker." he shouted when he saw it was empty.

He turned and ran to his car. He jumped in and opened the glove box, taking out a small data pad. He typed in the name Tyler Green and Capital City. Seconds later three hits came back. He opened all three files to try and narrow it down. The first was a thirteen year old high school student and the third a thirty seven year old man paralysed from the neck down for the last four years. Archangel looked at the face of the man his best friend was on a mission to kill. He looked up the address of the garage he worked in and turned over the ignition. He threw the pad onto the passenger seat and sped off.

TODAY

Raya hurt so much she almost didn't feel any pain any more. Her top was drenched with blood. She lifted her head which was the most effort she had ever put into anything.

"You still with me?" Skeeter asked.

Raya spat out some blood and one of her molars, "Unfortunately."

"So I want to ask you something. How do you have a history with Mark?"

"The SFM. They lured him into a trap years ago on Geminon. I was supposed to clean up after they killed him. They underestimated his ability, I was the only person left standing and had to run before I got the chance to kill him. He's always been the one who got away."

"What makes a person want to work for scum like the SFM?" Skeeter asked.

"They paid well." she replied.

Skeeter let out a laugh before punching her as hard as he could in the face. She didn't make a sound, she just spat out another mouthful of blood and another tooth before she spoke.

"So what are you going to do with my body? Leave me here to rot?"

Skeeter shook his head, "We're next to the incinarator. You deserve to die but I'm not going to jail for it, you'll never be found."

"You think people won't know you've killed someone? It changes a person in ways you can't imagine yet, in ways you can only hide for so long."

Skeeter chuckled, "You're not going to be the first person I've killed. I'm just hoping the only thing they notice is that I've found some peace."

"You really think that torturing and murdering me is going to bring you peace?"

"We're going to find out." Skeeter said before punching her so hard in the face her nose broke. Raya didn't make a sound. Skeeter picked up a hammer and drove it down onto one of the nails holding her hand down. This time Raya screamed, which made Skeeter smile. He did the same to the other nail. He looked and saw tears run down her face. He put the hammer down and sat in front of her. He took hold of her little finger on her right hand and wrenched it backwards snapping it out of the socket.

"One down, nine more to go." he said before snapping the next finger.

…...

The Quorrum meeting was getting under way and the topic, as thought was the fuel crisis.

"I met with Commander Garrett yesterday to discuss this problem. They estimate we have enough fuel to keep searching for the next nine weeks. IF by that time we haven't found any we have a choice to make. Either we chance our luck and keep looking or we turn around and set a course for Haven." Milo said.

"What has the Commander done to widen the search?" The Speaker of the Quorrum Wallace Gray asked.

"There are daily raptor missions going out as far as they can. The Medlia will be joining the search today as well." Milo said.

"Why not send out the Gunstar's as well?" Wallace asked.

"Because of the fuel they'll use." Milo replied.

"But it's okay to send out the Medlia?" Lara King the Leonis representative asked.

"The Medlia can travel much further on one third of the fuel one Gunstar uses." Milo replied.

"Do you know where the Commander sits on what to do if we can't find anything?" Wallace asked.

"I think she would agree there is only one logical thing we can do, head for Haven." Milo replied.

"There seems to be some irony in that!" Wallace said.

"For now that's all we can say about the fuel situation. Orion will keep us updated on the search. Before we move on, I would like to discuss the vacancy for a Vice President." Milo said.

"Have you considered any of our choices?" Lara asked.

"I have and I have made my choice," everyone seemed to wait with baited breath, "I would like to put forward my chief aide, Carrie Manning."

"What?!" the Caprican representative exclaimed.

Wallace couldn't help but smile at the President's shrude choice.

"She is the best of any of the people suggested. She knows the workings of the government and has the well being of the fleet as a top priority. She is also a candidate the military will approve of. What I want to know is does anyone here have a reasonable objection?"

A number of the representatives wanted to object as they had their own strategic choices, but any objections they could think of wouldn't hold up against someone like Carrie.

"I for one think she is the perfect choice," Wallace said, "If there are no objections I second her nomination."

…...

Bojay stood by the dradis console checking through the reports from the raptor missions. He threw the clipboard down in frustration. He hated the thought of being forced to settle on any planet while there was still a Cylon threat. He sighed and rubbed his eyes.

"Colonel, Hydra just got back, no joy." Phillips said.

"Tell her to come back to the barn and get some rack time." Bojay replied.

"Aye sir." Phillips replied.

Bojay took the last sip from his mug of tea before walking towards one of the side rooms where Mike Campbell had his usual set up.

"Colonel, how are you today?" Mike asked.

"Frustrated. Have you had any luck?" Bojay asked.

"As we thought there are no hits on any of the crew manifests. I've started running them again just to be on the safe side. The video footage is a different kettle of fish. I'm running six computers to their maximum capacity and I'm only 12% through all of it."

Bojay sighed, "Any news on finding Skeeter?"

"He's vanished. He must be on one of the ships that are more lax with their security."

"How many of them run sub par security?" Bojay asked.

"Twelve that should really pull their fingers out. There are rumours about some of them being run by former gangsters and mafia."

"Get me the names of those ships, I'm in no mood for people who think the rules don't apply to them."

"Of course." Mike replied.

"Do you need anything?" Bojay asked.

"No I'm good thank you."

…...

Skeeter slapped Raya to bring her back into conciousness. She began to come too. She immediately felt the room was much much hotter than before.

"This is no time to fall asleep, you can sleep when you're dead." Skeeter said.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"Oh I moved us to one of the unused boiler rooms. The heat you're feeling is from that furnace over there," Skeeter said before taking a drink from his water canteen, "Are you thirsty? Would you like a drink?"

Raya nodded her head. Skeeter put the canteen to her mouth and she drank deeply.

"Thank you," she said, when she had had her fill, "You don't have to kill me. I swear you will never see me again. I know not to ever come after you. I promise you'll never see me again."

"You killed Bria, how do you expect me to forgive you for that?"

"I don't expect you to forgive me. But there is information I can give you. The NCO may be gone but there are still other people in this fleet who want power, or who have things planned. I know things, I can give you the heads up, you'll be able to stay one step ahead instead of being taken by surprise again."

For the first time since this had happened, Skeeter was unsure of what to do.

EIGHT YEARS AGO

Skeeter sat in his car in the alleyway behind the shop where Tyler worked. Skeeter already knew the car two ahead of him belonged to his target. As he finished the bottle of ambrosia he had been drinking from, he took hold of the crowbar on the passenger seat next to him. He was extremely drunk, but he knew he could still get the job done. He was ready, he was going to enjoy this moment. As he reached for a bottle of beer he saw Tyler appear in the lonely alleyway. As he reached his car Skeeter got out of his. He realised as he stood up that he me have underestimated just how drunk he was.

"You remember me?" Skeeter asked.

Tyler let out a laugh, "So you didn't die by the side of that road then?"

"I didn't but my fiancee did." Skeeter replied.

"Listen I'm going to give you a choice. Either get lost or stay here and I beat you to death." Tyler said stepping closer to him.

"There's only one person being beaten to death tonight and it's not me." Skeeter replied swinging the crowbar and completely missing Tyler. As he regained his composure, Tyler swung and punched Skeeter square in the face, knocking him to the ground. Before he could get back to his feet, Tyler kicked Skeeter hard in the ribs again and again.

"You should have stayed under whatever rock you've been living under," Tyler said before kicking him again, "Now you turn up here, where I work and threaten to kill me?! No one fraks with me."

He picked Skeeter up by the throat and punched him in the face as hard as he could before dropping him back to the ground. He reached down and picked up the crowbar.

"You know you lost me an awful lot of money that day. You clearly have a death wish. I'm going to do you a favour. I'm going to end your pain for you. Time to say hello to the gods."

As he swung the crowbar a single gunshot rang out and the bullet hit Tyler in the back of the head, killing him instantly.

Skeeter started to come back to reality, he heard foot steps and looked up to see Archangel walking up to him with a gun in his hand.

"I told you to wait for me." Archangel said helping his best friend to his feet.

"What did you do?" Skeeter said.

"I saved your life you stupid son of a bitch!"

"He was mine to kill, not yours!" Skeeter yelled.

"He was about to kill you." Archangel replied.

"SO WHAT?! At least then this nightmare would be over!"

"You came here to die?" Archangel said.

"I don't know how to live without her."

"We will help you." Archangel replied.

"How? How the frak can you help me when you're never here? Some friend you are!"

Archangel punched Skeeter in the face knocking him out cold. Archangel picked up his friend and put him on the back seat of his car. He slammed the door before taking a deep breath. He looked down at the man he had just killed. He wondered what he was going to do with the body before reaching into his pocket and talking out his cell phone. He dialled one of the numbers and waited.

"This is Hunter Shadow 47. I need a cleaner and recovery for my vehicle."

…...

Skeeter groaned as he began to come back into consciousness. He snapped awake and realised he was laying in his own bed. He looked across the room and saw Archangel sitting in the chair in the corner of the room.

"Good morning." Archangel said.

"Hey." Skeeter replied.

"Do you remember what happened last night?" Archangel asked.

Skeeter thought for a moment. As the pain registered in his body, some flashes of the night before came back to him.

"Bits and pieces." he replied.

"There are pain killers and a glass of water on the side, they'll help with the headache and the broken ribs."

"Thank you."

"Do you remember going there last night to die?"

Skeeter looked at the bandages around his ribs and nodded his head.

"Yeah I remember. Thank you for saving my ass." Skeeter replied.

"You're welcome."

"Did I kill him?"

Archangel shook his head, "No I did, seconds before he was about to kill you."

"I don't know what to say." Skeeter said.

"You're not going to speak, you're going to listen," Archangel replied, "I get that you're hurting, we all get that you're hurting. I can't even begin to imagine what you're going through. I loved Alice, we all did and I swear that I'm not going to let you do something that you'd regret for the rest of your life. Mourn her for as long as you need too but get your fraking act together. I committed murder for you last night because you had a death wish. So get your fraking act together, do you hear me?"

Skeeter nodded his head, "Yeah I hear you."

"Good. Now put some fraking clothes on. Danny's mom is down stairs and she's making breakfast."

"Does she know?"

"Not everything, neither does Danny." Archangel replied before heading downstairs.

Skeeter quickly dressed before heading down to the kitchen. Danny's mother handed Archangel and Danny a cooked breakfast each.

"It's a lovely day, you two go eat out on the patio." she said.

She gave Archangel and Danny the look they both knew meant not to question her. They had seen the same look many times before down the years.

"Skeeter you sit at the table, I need to talk to you."

Skeeter sat down and took a sip from the coffee on the table.

"You look like you had one heck of a night." she said.

"Yeah I've had better." Skeeter replied.

"I don't know what happened and I don't want too. I've left Danny, Mark and the others to help you up to now but that's not happening any more, I'm stepping in and I am going to help you."

Skeeter started to cry, "I feel like I'm dead inside and I just want something to stop it. I've been drinking myself into oblivion, just so I don't feel anything."

"I know, Danny told me how much you've been drinking. He's been so worried about you. I've removed all the drink from the house."

"Thank you." Skeeter replied.

"Your whole life you've looked out for my son and I've thanked the gods everyday for you and Mark. Now it's my turn to look out for you. I'm going to do for you what your mother would have done if she'd still been here, gods rest her soul. You and Mark mean everything to Danny and I'm not putting him through the loss of a friend if I can help it."

Archangel and Danny sat outside eating their breakfast.

"I swear your mother is the bast cook in all of the colonies." Archangel said.

"Do you think Skeeter will be okay?" Danny asked.

"It'll take some time but I think he will be now. He was close to the edge last night and we nearly lost him. But in the cold light of day, I think he's come back to the other side." Archangel replied.

"I hope so," Danny said, "I don't know what I'd do without him."

TODAY

"So what information do you have to tell me?" Skeeter asked.

"You need to let me up first." Raya replied.

"How stupid do you think I am?"

"Okay then how about a show of faith?"

Skeeter took hold of the nails through her hands and with all his strength tore them out. Raya screamed.

"There's your show of faith." Skeeter said.

It took her a few moments to regain her ability to speak from the pain.

"There are members in the fleet."

"Members of what?" Skeeter asked.

"The Eastern Alliance."

"The pirates?"

"The very same."

"And on their own what fraking threat are they?"

"They're trying to find a way to contact their fleet."

"They have a fleet?"

"They did before the Cylons attacked and they still think they have one out there."

Skeeter didn't know what to think or if he should even care.

"I can tell you who they are and where they are." Raya said.

Before Skeeter knew what he was doing he was unfastening the wires around her wrists and then the other ropes keeping her on the chair.

"Thank you." she said.

Skeeter helped her to her feet.

"I'll keep my word, I'll take you too them and then you'll never see me again."

Skeeter looked at her.

"I don't care." Skeeter replied. He dragged her across the room. She screamed and tried to fight back but couldn't. He grabbed a cloth and opened the furnace.

"Please stop, please don't." she begged.

"You murdered the woman I love."

With all his strength he threw her inside and slammed the door. Her screaming was muted by the closed door. Skeeter watched through the small window as she burned. He let out a slow deep breath.

"So did it help?"

Skeeter turned and saw Danny standing next to him.

"I haven't seen you in a while." Skeeter said.

"Did it help?"

"Actually yes it did," Skeeter replied, "I had so much anger inside me and it's been there for so long. Loosing you and Alice and not being able to do anything about it, this has helped me."

"I hope so," Danny said, "I'm sorry about Bria, you deserved to be happy."

"It would seem that it's very unhealthy for people to be around me when I am."

"So what now?" Danny asked.

"Now," Skeeter said letting out a sigh, "Now I go home."

…...

"How's the shoulder?" Jawbreaker asked.

"Stiff but not as painful as it has been." Vanessa replied.

"That's good. Your punch is getting much better. Once your shoulder is better I'm going to give you some self defence training."

"I already have some." she replied.

"Not like this."

"Thank you for all this." Vanessa said.

"You're very welcome. I've trained a lot of people, I don't see why you shouldn't lose out on my expertise." he replied with a smile.

"You know even though things are quiet at the moment I can't shake the feeling that something is coming." Vanessa said.

"Well once we find fuel we are going on the offensive against the toasters. You know that, you know what we're going to be doing, you're just feeling apprehensive about that."

"Maybe," Vanessa said, "When I was a kid and then later on when I was older, whenever I was about to see my Dad again I used to get this horrid feeling in my gut. Even when I didn't know I was going to see him I'd just feel it."

"Over the last few days we've got to know each other quite quickly, do you mind if I share some observations with you?"

"Sure."

"Since we found out your father is out there, part of you has been on edge. You're expecting to find him and you're getting worried about what will happen if you do. Whether you realise it or not, your Dad holds a lot over you, even though he isn't here."

"It's as though he's always around the corner, just waiting."

"If he shows up I know it's hard to believe but you've got nothing to worry about."

"Can I ask you something now?" Vanessa asked.

"Shoot." Jawbreaker replied.

"If he turns up is there some sort of plan that I don't know about to deal with him?"

"I couldn't possibly comment." Jawbreaker replied.

"So there is."

"I couldn't possible comment." Jawbreaker replied again.

"Well all I'll say is, if it happens, anyone who may have any plans wouldn't rush into it without checking the lay of the land first."

"I'm sure anyone who had any plans wouldn't jump into anything Commander."

"Good. So are we on for tomorrow?"

"We sure are." Jawbreaker replied.

…...

Everything had moved so quickly. Carrie had just been sworn in as Vice President. The whole day so far had been a blur. She looked to her right and saw her husband and brother standing smiling in their dress uniforms. Commander Garrett stood by them and they all smiled. The Quarrom sat amongst the press, some of them looked happier than others. The President was giving a speech and answering questions. Carrie knew she should be paying more attention.

"...anyway that's enough from me. Please put your hands together for your new Vice President of the United Colonies of Kobol, Mrs Carrie Manning." Milo said.

Carrie smiled and walked to the podium as everyone clapped.

"Thank you all very much. Today has all been quite a blur, forgive me if I trip over my words. This is such a big honour, that the President would hand pick me for his position. Since working within the government in such terrible times that we live in, the importance of our survival is second to none. I give you all my word that in this role I will do everything I can to help the President and the Quarrom keep our way of life going and to improve it where possible..."

"Who would have thought, Carrie as Vice President." Archangel whispered.

"Are you kidding me, she'll be running this place given enough time." Wedge replied with a chuckle.

Forty five minutes later the press conference was over and everyone was starting to leave. After the last of the press had gone everyone turned to see Skeeter walk in.

"Hey guys." he said giving a little wave.

"Thank gods you're okay." Archangel said walking over and hugging his friend.

"Congratulations by the way." Skeeter said to Carrie.

"Can I ask where you've been?" Milo asked.

"I needed to get away and just get my head right," he replied, "For what it's worth, I'm in a much better place than I have been in a very long time."

"That's good." Milo replied.

"I was hoping that I could get back to work, but I understand if you'd rather I didn't."

"Are you kidding, this place isn't the same without you. I'm just glad you're okay." Milo said.

"I am, I finally have some peace." Skeeter replied.

Garrett and Archangel sat in the cockpit of a raptor as the Commander flew them back to Orion.

"Are you okay?" Vanessa asked.

Archangel nodded, "Yeah. I'm releaved Skeeter is okay."

"Do you think he really is okay?"

"I think we can stop the search for Bria's killer."

"Why do you think he found her?"

"I do."

"What makes you so sure?"

"I've not seen Skeeter like that in a long time, since before his first fiancee was killed. He's been carrying a lot of rage for a long time. He's lost so many people and it all weights on him. He had a look in his eye, he's found peace as he said and that rage has gone. The woman who killed Bria, the one who tried to kill me my gods she will have suffered. Skeeter will have let out all that rage."

"Do you think he'll be okay?" Should we look for her or start an investigation?"

"If you're in agreement I'd let it go. She got what was coming to her."

"Okay. But you still look worried."

"I am."

"Why?" Vanessa asked.

"I'm just worried, worried that he's turning into.." Archangel stopped what he was saying.

"Turning into what? Some sort of monster?"

"No much worse. I'm worried he's turning into me."


	29. Lexington

Commander Garrett and Colonel Johnson both stood at the dradis console in the middle of Orion's large CIC. Bojay waited for the Commander's reaction. She looked at him which she put the clipboard she had been reading down.

"I really cannot believe that with the amount of space we're covering there is no tilleum out there at all." Vanessa said.

"I hate to say it but we're getting very close to having to make the choice we've not wanted to talk about." Bojay replied.

"I know," she said, "I hate the thought of settling on any planet while the toasters are still out there."

"If they find us with no fuel, they'll just be able to swoop in and wipe us all out and all we'll be able to do is watch." Bojay replied.

"We've got four days till we get to rubicon, there is still time." Vanessa said.

…...

Raptor one jumped into massive planetary system. The system held seventeen planets which all orbited a giant blue sun.

"Beginning dradis sweep," Ensign Tommy "Hardcore" Turner, the Raptor's ECO said.

"Lets hope we finally catch a break." Captain Jessica "Hydra" Anders replied.

She looked at the beautiful sun, she'd only ever seen pictures of a blue one before. She remembered Bria telling her about the one she'd seen and how breathtaking it had been. Hydra couldn't believe how much more impressive it was than she could have ever imagined.

"You ever seen a blue sun before?" Hardcore asked.

"No, it's another first for me," Hydra replied, "I think I'm going to take a few pictures."

"Scan of the first sector has come up negative." Hardcore replied.

"Okay lets more deeper in. Keep the FTL spooled up, I don't want to get caught with our pants down." Hydra said.

"I hear that." Hardcore replied.

Hydra flew towards a gas giant which was bigger than any planet either pilot had ever seen before. The purples and yellows of the planet were mesmorising to look at.

"What the frak is that?" Hydra said.

"What do you see?" Hardcore asked.

"I'm not sure. Whatever it is, it isn't coming up on dradis," she replied, "It looks like there's something in an orbit around the third moon. I'm taking us in closer."

The raptor moved closer to the large moon.

"Holy shit!" Hydra exclaimed.

"What? What is it?"

"It's some kind of space station, it looks like it's been made out of an old Battlestar."

Hardcore came up to the cockpit.

"My gods." he said.

The old Battlestar looked like it had a giant thorn through the middle of it making the bastardised "space station" massive.

"Open a channel." Hydra said.

Hardcore quickly moved back through to his station and opened a channel.

"Channel open." he said.

"Unidentified station this is Battlestar Orion raptor one. My name is Captain Jessica Anders, please respond."

They waited for a reply but none came.

"I don't think anyone's home," Hardcore replied, "I'm not picking up any power readings."

"It was the Battlestar Lexington." Hydra said.

"Why the hell is it out here?"

"I've no idea but we need to head back to the fleet. Prepare to jump us back."

"Yes ma'am." Hardcore replied.

…...

"Commander, Hydra and Hardcore just jumped in. Hydra wants to speak to you." Lieutenant Phillips said.

"Put her through down here." Garrett replied.

"Lets hope this is good news." Bojay said as they both picked up their handsets.

"Hydra this is Orion Actual, please go ahead." Vanessa said.

"Actual we've found something. In the system we just jumped to, we found the Battlestar Lexington, but it's been converted into some kind of space station."

"Are you sure?" Vanessa asked.

"Yes ma'am. There is no sign of anyone aboard, but who knows what kind of supplies could be onboard." Hydra said.

"Hydra I want you to send us the exact co-ordinates and come back to the barn."

"Aye aye Commander."

"Mister Phillips I want you to distribute the co-ordinates throughout the fleet and prepare to jump. Please instruct the Aries to wait behind for the Medlia and our other raptors to return."

"Yes ma'am." Phillips replied.

"What the frak would a junked old battlestar done up as a space station be doing out here?" Bojay said.

"I've no idea, get Archangel up here." Vanessa said.

The next few minutes seemed to drag as all the other ships of the fleet checked in. Moments later Archangel walked onto the CIC.

"Everything okay?" he asked.

"We've found something. Hydra just reported back, they've found the Battlestar Lexington, but it appears to have been converted into a space station." Vanessa said.

"My gods are you serious?" Archangel replied.

"I wondered if you may have heard of anything like this?" Vanessa asked.

"A couple of years before the attack I was drinking with Admiral Negala. He told me after the war the admiralty decided to make a series of deep space stations. They were supposed to be there in case the Cylons ever came back. They took the old battlestar's that were at the end of their lives to be turned into them." Archangel replied.

"Why wasn't this common knowledge? Under the circumstances it would have been helpful." Bojay said.

"At first the commander's knew about them. The Admiral told me, the longer the Cylons stayed away, the more they were forgotten about. I never said anything because I had no idea where they were or if they were even really out here. I don't even know if the Admiral knew where they were. I know the details would have been at fleet headquarters."

"What should we expect to find there?" Vanessa asked.

"Everything," Archangel replied, "Fuel, food, water, medical supplies, fighters etc."

"This is a miracle." Bojay said.

"It is as long as no one else has already been there." Archangel replied.

"Could the Cylons have been there?" Bojay asked, "They could have booby trapped it?"

"No they were all built with a self destruct fail safe. Unless any ships that docked with it have a varifiable colonial transponder, kaboom!" Archangel replied.

"Commander, all ships report ready to jump." Phillips said.

"Give the order Mr Phillips." Vanessa said.

"Aye aye ma'am. All ships this is the Battlestar Orion, prepare to jump on my mark. Jumping in 5..4..3..2..1..jump."

Orion and the rest of the fleet all vanished in a group of bright flashes and re-appeared by the moon.

"Jump complete," Phillips said, "Just as Hydra said, nothing is coming up on dradis."

"Tell Hydra to launch and dock with the station." Vanessa said.

"Hydra this is Phillips, you are clear to launch."

"Phillips this is Hydra, we're on our way." she replied.

"Mr Phillips, please put Hydra over the speakers." Vanessa said.

Raptor one had been waiting on the flightpod, ready to launch on the other side of the jump. Hydra effortlesly flew the small craft straight out of the flight pod and towards the station.

"Orion this is Hydra, one of the Lexington's flight pods is still there, I'm going to put us down inside."

"Hydra this is Actual. Archangel said you'll need to log in with your transponder or the station will self destruct." Vanessa replied.

"Actual scratch my last then, I'll use one of the airlocks on the outside of the pod as it will make it easier to connect."

"Hydra, Actual, which ever is easier for you, it's your call Captain."

"Did she say self destruct?" Hardcore asked.

"Yes she did," Hydra replied, "We'll be fine Hardcore, just sit back and relax, we'll be fine!"

Hydra chose the nearest airlock and the closer she got she cut the engines and manoeuvred the craft into position with thrusters. Moments later they had docked.

"We have a hard seal." Hardcore said.

Moments later the raptors systems kicked into overdrive.

"Holy shit. Actual, the Lexington has powered to life and they've linked in with us." Hydra said.

"Please don't explode, please don't explode." Hardcore repeated quietly under his breath.

Suddenly the link stopped and the Lexington powered to life.

"Actual, this is Hydra, we are a go."

"Hydra, Actual, thank you."

"Actual do you want us to head inside?"

"Hydra you can do. We will be with you shortly." Vanessa replied.

"I honestly can't tell you the last time I was this excited!" Archangel said.

"Mr Phillips please inform the President that we will meet him on board as soon as we have docked the ship."

"Sorry did you just say dock the ship?" Bojay asked.

"I certainly did." Vanessa replied.

"I don't mean to sound like I'm questioning your orders, but do you think it's wise to dock the ship with something so small in comparison?" Bojay said pointing to dradis.

"It will make things easier to transfer the supplies. Mr Phillips please dock Orion with the Lexington." Vanessa said.

"Yes ma'am." Phillips replied.

"Colonel, Major, would you like to see the inside of the Lexington?" Vanessa asked with a smile.

"Hell yes." Bojay replied.

"After you Commander." Archangel said.

"Mr Phillips, please ask Chief Nelson to meet us with a deck crew by airlock seven."

"Yes ma'am."

"You have the deck Lieutenant."

News of the Lexington's discovery had spread through the ship quickly and the crew seemed to be going about their duties with an extra spring in their step, at least that was how it seemed to the Commander.

"I still can't believe how lucky we've been with this." Bojay said.

"It's almost as if someone is watching out for us!" Vanessa replied.

"Please tell me you're not turning to religion as well," Archangel said, "Religion seems to be spreading through the fleet quicker than Tauron flu would."

"No I'm not turning to religion, but lets face it, it's better than despair." Vanessa replied.

…...

Hydra and Hardcore walked down the hanger deck aboard the Lexington. It felt strange, they must have been the first people there in a very long time.

"My gods look at this, it's like a museum." Hardcore said.

"I can't remember the last time I saw vipers this old." Hydra replied.

The fighter bays were full of Mk2 and 3 Vipers. Despite being fighters built during and just after the first war, they looked brand new.

There was something almost emotional about where they were. The ship had history, it had served in, fought in and survived the first Cylon war. If it had a voice the ship itself would have it's fill of stories to tell. Their silence was broken by the opening of one of the air locks close by. In walked the Commander, followed by the others.

"Wow." The Commander said.

"Oh my, look at all these fighters," Archangel said, "I've always wanted to fly a Mk 2."

"Looks like now you'll get your chance," Vanessa said, "How does it feel for you two to be the first people in here for gods knows how long?"

"It was quite an honour, thank you Commander." Hydra said.

"You two found it, I thought you should be the first ones on board."

"Thank you." Hydra replied.

"Chief, Colonel, Major, if you come with me we'll find the control room. If the rest of you can take a look down here and see what we've got?"

As they walked through the ship, more lights flickered on ahead of them. The air smelled a little stale, but the longer they were on the station and the air filtration system was in use, the quicker the smell would go.

As they reached where the CIC had once been, there were several elevators instead.

"Well I didn't expect this." Bojay said.

"Me either, the control room must be further up in the tower." Archangel replied.

"Are we supposed to guess which level?" Bojay said.

"This may take a while." Archangel replied.

"Not as long as you may think." Vanessa replied.

They turned to see her tapping her finger on a lay out of the station, which had been posted on the wall.

"I swear to gods, sometimes I wonder how you guys even manage to function." Vanessa replied with a laugh, "It's on level seventy three."

Moments later the elevator pinged open and they stepped inside. A couple of minutes later the doors reopened and they walked out onto the massive control room.

"Oh wow." Vanessa said.

The control room was twice the size of Orion's CIC. Work stations and computer systems all came to life. The entire control room had massive windows all the way round and the view was spectacular. Orion's massive structure could be seen on one side along with the fleet. To their left the moon the station was in orbit of and coming up behind the moon the massive gas giant was beginning to come into view.

"This is breathtaking," The Chief said as he sat at one of the stations, "I'm going to try and pull up an inventory."

"I've seen some impressive sights down the years but this tops them all." Vanessa said.

Archangel walked to the front of the room and just stood silently looking out into space. He had always found the sight of it so peaceful but at time utterly terrifying.

"Breathtaking view isn't it?" Vanessa said as she came and stood next to him.

"Sure is." Archangel quietly replied.

"When did you first get bitten by the bug?" she asked.

"I remember I was 14. I went camping in the mountains with Skeeter, Danny and some of the other guys. Skeeter had managed to score some alcohol and some green. That first night we all lay around the fire, we could barely move and I remember looking up at the stars and I couldn't take my eyes off them. Even after the other guys had either fallen asleep or in Skeeter's case, passed out, I kept looking at them for hours. From that moment all I wanted to do was go into space, even if it was only on a shuttle or some kind of liner, I just knew. What about you?" Archangel replied.

"It wasn't until I'd joined up. The first time I did a space walk. You know what it's like, nothing between you and the stars. It's so addictive." she replied.

"Holy frak." they heard the Chief say.

"Is that a good holy frak Chief or a we're heading back to Haven holy frak?" Vanessa asked.

"Oh it's a very very good holy frak Commander. We've got enough fuel to keep the fleet running for years, refined and unrefined, water, food, medical supplies, fighters, raptors, shuttles we hit the mother load!" he replied clapping his hands together.

Vanessa smiled and let out the breath she had been holding in. Bojay laughed and cheered.

"Thank frak we don't have go back to that planet!" Bojay exclaimed.

"I'll get to work transferring everything to Orion and the fuel refineries etc." the Chief said.

"That would be fantastic, thank you." Vanessa replied patting him on the shoulder.

Archangel watched and smiled to himself. It had been so long since he had seen Bojay and in particular Vanessa this happy.

One of the lifts opened behind them and out walked the President and Skeeter.

"This is quite a find your pilots made," Milo said, "How's the news?"

"Very good Mr President, better than we ever could have imagined. We've got everything we need and more besides." Vanessa said.

"This is always was a lucky ship." Milo replied, "Survived everything the Cylons threw at her first time round, kept her crew safe and alive and now all this time later, she's doing the same again for us."

…...

Jawbreaker had been working out in the gym for an hour when the Commander walked in to join him.

"Good morning Commander, I was beginning to wonder if you'd stood me up." He said with a smile.

"Busy day, I wasn't going to miss today for the world." Vanessa replied.

"How's the shoulder?"

"All better, no pain, no tightness, no nothing, it feels as good as new."

"You know what that means then? Your final exam." he said with a chuckle.

"Can we carry on with this? In amongst all this madness this is about the only thing that feels normal."

"We sure can, it's been nice to have someone to spar with." Jawbreaker replied.

"I thought you usually did your workout with Wedge?"

"Yeah not so much any more."

"Ah I see." Vanessa replied.

"Anyway Vanessa you ready?"

She nodded her head in reply.

"So then, knock me on my ass." Jawbreaker replied.

They suddenly realised that everyone in the gym had turned their attention to them and were watching in complete silence.

Vanessa calmed herself and without thinking about it threw a punch exactly how Jawbreaker had been showing her. She connected with his jaw perfectly and the man with the hardest jaw in the fleet went down. As he hit the deck everyone in the gym cheered.

"Holy frak I did it!" Vanessa exclaimed, "You didn't take a dive did you? I really did it didn't I?" she asked with a huge smile across her face as she helped him up.

As he got to his feet he shook his head and spat out a mouthful of blood onto the ground.

"Congratulations Vanessa you're the first person to ever put me on my ass." he said giving her a hug, "Now if you'll excuse me I need to head off."

"Are you okay?" she asked.

He reached into his mouth and pulled out on of his molars which had been knocked out complete with the root.

"Oh my gods I'm so sorry." she said.

Jawbreaker smiled, "Don't be at all. Here a momento." he said handing her his tooth.

She smiled to herself as she looked down at the bloody tooth in her hand.

…...

Archangel stood on the hanger deck staring at one of the MK2 vipers. He walked up to it and ran his hand down the nose of the plane.

"We need to make a deal," Archangel said, "I have been wanting to fly a plane like you since I started viper training. Now the Chief tells me that you're okay to fly, all the others have been so far in transferring them over. You've been sat here for gods know how long so I'm going to fly you, all I want in return is for you not to blow up on me. Okay? Because that's really not how I want to go out."

He looked at the viper for a moment before he realised someone was standing behind him. He turned around and saw the President standing there in a Jock Smock.

"Major I can't tell you how much I appreciate this, it's been a long time," Milo said, "I hope I haven't forgetting anything?" he added with a chuckle.

"You know the old saying sir, it's like riding a bike."

"I certainly hope so." Milo replied.

"You're callsign, if I'm not mistaken it was Breakneck?"

"Yes it was."

"Well then Breakneck, lets fly." Archangel replied smiling.

…...

The Commander walked onto the CIC after showering after her gym session. She smiled when she saw Bojay standing drinking a mug of tea.

"So is it true?" Bojay asked.

"Depends on what 'it' is?" she replied.

"Did you put Jawbreaker on his ass?" Bojay asked with a huge smile across his face.

Vanessa reached into her pocket took out the molar and held it between her finger and thumb to show him.

"No fraking way?! Is that what I think it is?" Bojay asked.

Vanessa nodded, "It sure is."

"You want to keep hold of that, if the stories are true you're the only person ever to do that."

"After training with him for so long I'm inclined to believe the stories." Vanessa replied.

Bojay chuckled again.

"So how goes the transferring of supplies?"

"The Shuttles and the Raptors have all been distributed through the military ships. We've got most of the other supplies as well. Any of the fleets ships needing water have already been topped up, the rest will be done over the next few days. All the water for now has been put aboard Orion and the Starburst. A rota is being drawn up for the ships to replenish. All the ships have been fully fuelled and the unrefined ore has been sent to the refineries. Everything else should be off the station by 0900 hours tomorrow according to the Chief." Bojay replied.

"Excellent." Vanessa replied with a smile. She was feeling good, better than she had felt in a very long time.

"Commander, Colonel I thought I'd let you know Archangel and the President have just launched." Lt Phillips said from his station.

"Put their chatter over the speakers please." Vanessa said.

…...

"You okay over there Breakneck?" Archangel asked.

Milo couldn't help but smile to himself, it had all come back to him, "Oh yes Major." he simply replied.

"Fancy taking them for a spin?" Archangel replied.

"I was hoping you'd say that." Milo replied.

"Okay how about we take them to the last planet in the system and back to the blue moon?"

"Last one back buys the drinks?" Milo asked.

"You sure you want to make that bet?" Archangel replied smiling.

"Son I was racing viper's before you were even a thought your parent's had." Milo replied laughing.

"Well then Breakneck, game on." Archangel replied as both men engaged the engines to maximum.

Both men weaved through the civilian ships and out the other side into open space.

"You still with me Archangel?" Milo asked.

"Not even broken a sweat yet! Hahaha!"

Both men were pushing their vipers hard and were neck and neck. Archangel had to admit for a man who hadn't flown a plane in over thirty years he was still one hell of a pilot. He couldn't help but wonder how good he must have been in his prime.

In front of them, in the distance blue flashes started to appear, the blue flashes that indicated ships jumping into the system.

"Dradis contact." Archangel said, "Mr President we have to turn back now, form up with me, we're heading back to Orion. Orion this is Archangel please respond."

…...

"DRADIS CONTACT." Phillips yelled.

"Report?" Bojay said.

"Multiple dradis contacts with more continuing to jump in, no confirmation on what they are yet." Phillips replied.

"Order the fleet to prepare to jump away," Vanessa said, "Launch all attack squadrons. Recall all personnel from the station at once and then prepare to detach from the station. Inform the Gunstars to form in along side us to give us some more time."

"Yes ma'am." Bojay replied.

"Commander I have Archangel on the horn, he and the President are on full burn heading back to us."

"Inform the Major to join the rest of the attack squadron's and take charge out there." Vanessa replied.

"Yes ma'am."

…...

"Okay Mr President as soon as we get back I want you to head to the port flightpod and land." Archangel said.

"That's a lot of contacts behind us Major, I'm sticking to your six." Milo replied.

"Breakneck don't make me order you, I'm in command out here. You're too important to be killed ."

"I'm a soldier, like you and I'm staying out here with you."

"You're not going to take no for an answer are you?"

"Major someone has to watch your back, I still have a wager to win." Milo replied.

Moments later both planes joined the rest of the attack wings.

…...

"Commander, we're receiving colonial transponders." Lt Phillips shouted.

"Verify that." Bojay yelled.

"I have sir, they're colonials."

Vanessa and Bojay both looked at each other.

"Challenge hostile ID." Vanessa replied.

"Unidentified vessel this is the Battlestar Orion. Please varify your identity or we will destroy you." Phillips replied.

The next few seconds passed in silence.

"Commander we're receiving a call." Phillips replied.

Vanessa picked up her handset and took a deep breath.

"This is Commander Vanessa Garrett of the Battlestar Orion, please identify yourself." she said, her voice full of authority.

There was a pause before the reply came through on the speakers, "Vanessa? Is that really you?"

She knew instantly who it was, her heart sank but she didn't let her voice waver, "This is Commander Vanessa Garrett, I repeat please identify yourself."

"It's me Admiral Lionel Garrett of the Battlestar Icarus." came the reply.

"Hello father." She replied.


End file.
